The Iowa Stater
September1996
No fountain for four seasons
ountain of the Four Seasons, the Christian Petersen sculpture in
front of the Memorial Union, has been removed for at least a year for
repairs and conservation work.
In June, Linda Merk-Gould, an art conservator from Westport, Conn.,
removed the sculptures four Native American women and the terra cotta ring
they surround. She will remove built-up salt, minerals and bacterial growth,
and repair cracks and other damage to the statues in her Connecticut
studios. She also will make repairs to the fountain's pool.
The total cost of the project is approximately $200,000, most of which will come from private contributions. The Class of '46 is funding conservation of one of the Native American women statues.
Petersen, artist-in-residence at Iowa State from 1934 to 1955, created the Fountain of the Four Seasons in 1941. Student pranksters were prone to balancing toilet seats on a previous fountainhead at night. Former ISU President Charles Friley asked Petersen to create something beautiful that students couldn't turn into a joke.
The Iowa Stater, stater@iastate.edu, University Relations
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Revised 9/24/96