Fountain of the Great Lakes, Bronze sculpture in Grant Park, United States
The Fountain of the Great Lakes is a large bronze sculpture in Chicago featuring five female figures that represent North America's five major lakes. The figures are arranged so that water flows from one to the next, showing the natural connection between Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario.
The work was created between 1907 and 1913 by Chicago artist Lorado Taft and was the first public art installation funded by the Benjamin F. Ferguson Fund. This early patronage marked a turning point in how the city approached public art funding and sculpture placement.
The five bronze figures embody the lakes through their arrangement and gestures, with water symbolically flowing from one figure to the next. This portrayal shows how nature and artistic vision merge in Chicago to celebrate the connection between these vast water bodies.
The fountain is located in the South Court of the Art Institute of Chicago and is easy to reach from the Millennium Park area. Visitors can view the sculpture at any time during the day, with water typically running during the warmer months.
The original plaster model was created by five female art students from the Art Institute of Chicago before it was cast in bronze. This made the students early contributors to a major artwork that would later become an icon of the city.
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