Summertime brings out the kid in us all and nothing says childhood fun like running through sprinklers. Culver City’s Town Plaza is home to our very own water attraction.
The Lion’s Fountain was commissioned by the Culver City Redevelopment Agency as the public art component of the Town Plaza development project. The fountain is comprised of an eight-foot tall bronze lion sculpture surrounded by 40 lighted jets that shoot streams of water high into the air.
The Lion’s Fountain has become a focal point of Town Plaza, delighting visitors with its carefree demeanor and dancing water jets.
Douglas Olmsted Freeman, a Minneapolis based sculptor, was awarded this commission, in part because of his success in creating sculptures and designing spaces that invite the viewer to participate, to imagine, and to play. Some of Mr. Freeman’s other large-scale installations include: A Spiral of Birds (1991) in St. Paul, MN; The Fountain of the Wind (1994), in Duluth, MN; and Shichifukujin – The Seven Lucky Gods of Japan (1995), and The Seven Animals of Akabane (1996) in Tokyo, Japan.
Although the theme for the fountain is inspired by lions associated with Culver City’s movie studio history (MGM’s Leo the Lion and the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz), this lion is neither a representation nor direct interpretation of either of these felines.
Look for exclusive Leo cartoons in the Culver City News.
