Showalter Fountain

HISTORY 

Showalter Fountain was first proposed in a plan by Eggers and Higgins in 1939 when planning the Auditorium and Arts buildings. They wanted the fountain in the middle of the buildings. 

In 1952, Robert Laurent was selected to design the fountain. He was a professor of Fine Arts. He was from France and moved to America in 1910. He studied sculpture. However, after a few years, he paused because he had to go serve as a soldier in World War I. After returning home, he spent years honing his craft as a sculptor.  After years of sculpting, he was invited to teach at IU in 1942. 

After being selected to design the fountain, he went to Rome to work on it, where he was inspired by the ancient Roman fountains. This gave him an idea to represent the myth of the Birth of Venus in the sculpture. After he finished the sculpture, a group of IU professors and students had a dedication ceremony in 1961. The Showalter Fountain was named after Ralph Showalter, an Indiana businessman. His wife had donated money for the fountain. At the dedication ceremony, IU President Herman B. Wells said it’s a symbol of IU’s commitment to the arts and the classics. 

Robert Laurent’s other works can be found at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Art Institute of Chicago.