Title: El Presidio Fountain, by Charles Clement and Michael Lugo
(1970)
Location: 255 West Alameda Avenue in the center of El Presidio Park
Details: Cast concrete with tile work.
She Said:
Fountains present in a vital way the fusion of art and life, life in
the form of moving, flowing water. El Presidio Fountain is an oasis in
the urban setting of downtown Tucson, and serves as the focal
point of the park. The mosaic tile works add notes of color to the cast
concrete, but water is the real centerpiece of this art installation,
bubbling and splashing and cooling the air around the fountain. I like
this piece not just because I like fountains in general, but also
because of its location in the downtown area, and the colorful tile
work included in its design.
He Said:
Situated directly behind the mosiac-domed courthouse, El Presidio Park
has quite a number of statuary and art pieces, and right in the center
is this
fountain. In Tucson, we are constantly aware that water
is
life, and placing this huge fountain in El Presidio Park is most
appropriate. Here is where the city of Tucson's life began, it
proclaims. And, indeed, that is correct. The original Presidio of
Tucson was on this very spot. Ninety feet or so east of the fountain
you can see the line demarcating the wall of the tiny community that
grew to become Tucson.
It also proclaims more: some of the stylized designs remind me of
Native American symbols. These, fused into the modernistic concrete,
remind me that Tucson does have a rich and varied history, much of it
occuring long before the beginnings of the tiny outpost known as El
Presidio de Tucson.
Copyright © 2004 S. Halversen. All rights
reserved.