Earth Fountain Installed at Byers Green on Camp Bowie
Posting thanks to Arts Council of Fort Worth & Tarrant County at www.fwpublicart.org
Earth Fountain, a nine-foot orb carved from granite by Austin-based artist Philippe Klinefelter, arrived in Fort Worth June 2 after making a four-hour journey up Interstate 35W. It was successfully installed while a small crowd looked on. The sculpture, a Fort Worth Public Art project, is located in a traffic triangle know as Byers Green on Camp Bowie Boulevard at Eldridge Street.
Carved out of a single, 30-ton block of Texas Sunset Red granite — the same granite used in the Tarrant County Courthouse — the sculpture echoes the color of the Thurber brick used to pave Camp Bowie Boulevard.
The sculpture’s design was inspired by water – how it comes from, shapes, and returns to the earth. The three openings in the sculpture are related to the angles of the three streets adjacent to the park. Water will flow out of the three openings over a carved, scaled representation of the Trinity River and its tributaries.
Fort Worth Public Art and Urban Green, a local nonprofit, teamed up for the project. Urban Green, an organization that works to improve public green spaces throughout the city, entered into an “Adopt A Park” agreement with the city for the Byers Green median. Urban Green is underwriting improvements to the site that include irrigation, electricity and pathways to the sculpture.
The entire project is expected to be completed this summer and the public will be invited to the dedication at a date to be determined.