Did you know that the city of Sterling has been referred to as the “City of Living Trees?” Well you do now, and this is why—Bradford Rhea’s sculptures have offered these trees the chance to live on for ages. Many of the trees came from the 1980’s when Bradford learned that many trees around the Sterling area were scheduled to be cut down because of the harmful Dutch Elm Disease. At the time, Bradford couldn’t afford large marble slabs for his sculptures, and fortunately for us, he also learned that once the bark of these trees was removed, the heart of the tree was fine, and as you can see before you, Bradford knew exactly what to do from there… He says he really just tried to let the beauty of the tree dictate the direction of the sculpture, and one can almost imagine the heavy branches of the elm sticking out from the heavy trunk base. Built back in 1984 and proudly living on before you today..