About This Piece

On The Rise, designed by Wendy Khawaja, is installed inside Denver Zoo’s The Edge, where more than an acre of land provides habitat for its two Amur tigers, Yuri and Nikita.

The artwork consists of circular, tiered platforms, designed to provide the magnificent Amur tigers a place to climb, jump, lounge, splash and play. The design was driven by a desire to provide tigers with a range of possibilities for interaction with the sculpture in their environment.

The large curved platforms and pedestals were cast in reinforced concrete and sited next to the exhibit’s water feature. The tigers enjoy the sight, sound and feel of the water as they splash between platforms, guided by platforms’ curvatures and varied inclines.