At the suggestion in 1953 of Chancellor Franklin D. Murphy, a large cast-stone fountain was purchased with $1,300 in private funds from the Erkins Studio in New York. It was placed in a circular terrace surrounded by three benches at the south end of Alumni Place; Facilities Planning landscaped the site, near the retaining wall behind Miller and Watkins scholarship halls. By 1981, deterioration had so damaged the fountain that an exact replica was made by Erkins, and it was reinstalled.
The fountain was authorized in October 1952 as a memorial to alumnae on the 50th anniversary of the founding of Lambda chapter at KU. Students, alumni and friends donated about $5,000 to the construction fund; the balance of the $11,800 cost was contributed by KU Endowment’s Elizabeth M. Watkins Fund.
James L. Bass, then a student of professor and sculptor Elden C. Tefft, won a competition to design plaques embodying aspects of the Eleusinian myth that were to surround the octagonal tank: an owl; the figure of Hades; a pomegranate; Persephone and Hades; wheat; Demeter and Persephone; carnations; and a gift plaque.
The Indiana limestone fountain is based on one at a manor in Northumberland, England; the pool is 12 feet in diameter, and three spigots spill water into a bowl mounted on the 7-foot shaft above the octagonal tank. It was fabricated by Erkins Studios of New York and dedicated April 23, 1955.
See also: Prairie Formation
This terrace of landscaped plantings and benches between Malott Hall and Anschutz Library was dedicated May 15, 1999, in memory of Eleanor Sisson Malott, wife of Deane W. Malott, the eighth chancellor. During his tenure from 1939 to 1951, Mrs. Malott was a leader in beautifying the campus with flowering trees and shrubs. At her urging, the Class of 1945 donated 1,000 crab apple trees. The terrace landscaping includes chrysanthemums, sage, barberry, peonies, daffodils, spirea and crab apple trees.
See also: Malott Gateway
The fountain and courtyard dedicated to the wife of former Chancellor Franklin D. Murphy occupy the space between the east and west wings of Murphy Hall, which opened in 1957. The court was completed in 1973 with funds from the classes of 1938, 1958 and 1968 and from Murphy, chancellor from 1951 to 1960. He selected the fountain, which is 18 feet 8 inches in diameter; KU landscape architect Alton Thomas designed the crab-orchard limestone benches and planters. On a terrace of the courtyard is a steel rebar sculpture of a human form that is 8 feet 7 inches tall. The piece, “My Happiness,” is a fall 2006 work donated by Daniel Scannell, a sculpture student. After Murphy was named chancellor of the University of California-Los Angeles in 1960, he and his wife remained KU benefactors and art patrons, endowing a lecture series and an art-history professorship. Murphy died June 16, 1994; Mrs. Murphy died Jan. 8, 1998.
See also: Murphy Hall
The Arthur D. Weaver Memorial Fountain Court on the south side of Spooner Hall was dedicated June 20, 1960, in memory of the longtime Lawrence department-store owner. It was the gift of son Arthur B. Weaver and daughter Amarette W. Veatch and their families.
A fountain near the center held a sculpture, and several others were mounted in the courtyard. One piece, “Portrait of August Renoir” by Aristide Malliol, was stolen in 1967; the others were removed to storage.
In 2007 a restoration project began, funded by Jane V. Barber, the Historic Mount Oread Fund and Weaver’s Inc. The fountain was refurbished as a planter, four benches were installed, and the limestone wall was reinforced.
Four pieces collectively titled “Garden Group” were installed, on permanent loan from the Spencer Museum of Art. Created by Kansas City sculptor Richard M. Hollander in 1969, they were given to the museum in 1992 by Mr. and Mrs. Eugene M. Strauss.
Three of the stainless-steel pieces are slender and geometric, each just over 5 feet tall and about 15.5 inches wide; they are mounted in a landscaped bed near the center of the courtyard. The fourth, almost 7 feet tall and 3 feet 7.5 inches wide, is more organic in shape; it is mounted near the south wall of Spooner.
See also: Spooner Hall; Interstate 70
This small plaza between Wescoe Hall and Budig Hall/Hoch Auditoria is paved in brick and has three benches. Dedicated June 11, 2005, it is a gift from Dorothy Woodyard in honor of her brother, George Woodyard, professor emeritus of Spanish and Portuguese and first dean of International Studies (1989-96).
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