Friday, February 06, 2009

DuPen Fountain at Night



2009 Seattle Daily Photo, All Rights Reserved, including reproduction or republishing.

Also called the Fountain of Creation after the subject of this bronze sculpture, the DuPen Fountain and its surrounding architecture on the Seattle Center campus speak of a time and place: west coast, mid 20th century. Built as part of the Century 21 Exposition and incorporating multilevel vantage places in a serene setting, this fountain's large wading pool is wildly popular with families of young children in sunny months. Their and other Seattlites' outcry saved the fountain from city council's unanimous vote to tear it out in their search for a replacement space for SeaSk8t, the popular skate park that was displaced by construction of the Gates Foundation/Seattle Center parking structure finished last July (I showed you here). Everett DuPen, a sculptor from the University of Washington, had designed the fountain specifically for its site in 1962 and consulted on its refurbishing in 2003, two years before his death. The setting looks to me like a page out of a 1960's Sunset Magazine.

7 comments:

Pat said...

Gee, I have never seen this fountain, but will look it up next time. You have captured it beautifully, with the soft water and all. Yes, it does look like something from a vintage Sunset magazine!

Anonymous said...

beautiful shot, i love the colors and the shadows :)

Hilda said...

Bautiful! I love the stones and the sculpture. And the shadow of the tree to the right of your photo is just wonderful! For a minute there, I thought this was an indoor fountain because of the light.

Destia DuPen said...

What a beautiful photo of my father's art...the best I have seen. Thank you!

Kim said...

Wow, thank you for your very kind remarks Ms. DuPen. I'm so glad you found this shot and enjoyed seeing it. Countless people see his work by day, but I think it is even more stunning by night. Thanks again,
-Kim

dupenbabbar (flamingpen) said...

OMG! it is just awesum. Beautiful.

Anonymous said...

I am very happy that this iconic sculpture has been saved. I was distressed to learn that it might be lost in the renovations. Its a beautiful image.
Jean locker - Shoreditch