Bays Mountain Park

Art of Bronze was honored to work with Bays Mountain Park & Planetarium in Kingsport, Tennessee, providing a collection of bronze sculptures installed throughout this remarkable nature park. Each sculpture was selected and installed to complement the park’s natural surroundings while creating memorable encounters for children, families, and visitors.

Our relationship with Bays Mountain Park began with the installation of “Alert (Fox Sitting)” within the park’s fox habitat. The bronze fox is portrayed sitting attentively with an alert expression, making it a natural addition to the wildlife setting. For the installation, the sculpture was permanently secured to a custom-created tree stump designed specifically to accommodate the fox’s paws and tail, allowing the bronze artwork to appear naturally integrated into its surroundings.

Following the successful fox installation, Bays Mountain Park added our “Permission to Pass” standing bear sculpture at the entrance to the Good Steward Nature Center. The large standing bear creates an impressive welcome for visitors and was installed on a custom-designed pedestal. Because the sculpture is located in an area frequented by children, additional attention was given to safety and security. Art of Bronze welded a stainless steel hook to the back of the bear, allowing a safety cable to securely connect the sculpture to the rock wall behind it.

The park’s most recent addition was “A Curious Encounter,” a customized bronze sculpture depicting a young boy balanced on a rock as a fox crosses his path. The composition captures that uncertain moment when a child unexpectedly encounters a wild animal—the boy watches carefully, curious about what the fox might do next. The sculpture combines childhood adventure with the wildlife theme that is such an important part of Bays Mountain Park.

Together, these bronze sculptures create engaging points of interest throughout the park while complementing its mission of connecting visitors with nature and wildlife.

Bays Mountain Park encompasses approximately 3,750 acres in Kingsport, Tennessee. Opened in 1971, the park includes a 44-acre reservoir, more than 40 miles of trails, a nature center, planetarium theater, fire tower, native animal habitats, and numerous opportunities for outdoor recreation.

The park’s wildlife exhibits feature native animals including bobcats, gray wolves, birds of prey, reptiles, and amphibians, while its extensive wooded areas provide habitat for many additional native species. Visitors can explore the park through hiking and mountain biking trails, fishing, camping, educational programs, and pontoon boat rides on the reservoir.

For Art of Bronze, the Bays Mountain Park project demonstrates how thoughtfully selected bronze wildlife and children sculptures can become part of a larger natural environment. From a fox within its habitat to a bear greeting visitors and a young boy experiencing an unexpected wildlife encounter, each sculpture contributes its own story to this unique Tennessee destination.