Since its dedication on May 4, 1941, over a quarter million undergraduate students at Iowa State have experienced this campus icon. Most current students and alumni are unaware of the background of the fountain and the sculptures. This exhibition will give the guest curator’s perspective of the people and events that may have influenced Christian Petersen’s final design.
In the early days, it was known as the VEISHEA fountain. When it became known as the Fountain of the Four Seasons will be discovered in further research. Petersen made some concept sketches of other fountain proposals, but the final sculpture designs took shape in the fall of 1940 at the National Corn Husking Contest held in Davenport, Iowa. The model sculptures were part of a major exhibition prepared by Iowa State showing the origins, colonization, commercialization, open pollinations, and hybridization of corn. Petersen worked on the models of the sculptures alongside Horticulture Professor, J.C. Cunningham, a corn historian, who displayed early examples of corn and corn cultivation artifacts.
This exhibition will present the original plaster models and will be divided into four segments. First, the influence and friendship with Edgar Harlan, Curator of the Iowa Historical Department, and early benefactor of Petersen. Second, the probable influence of Petersen’s art as illustrator of the 1936 children’s book Cha-Ki-Shi by Halla Rhode and Bessie Coon. Third, the likely influence of his friend, J.C. Cunningham, the corn historian. Fourth, other sketches and possible designs for the fountain that were not favored in the final rendition.
The exhibition will feature two Petersen sculptures commissioned by Edgar Harlan, several original drawings for the Cha-Ki-Shi book, Meskwaki artifacts borrowed from the State Historical Society of Iowa that reflect some of the drawings, and Petersen’ concept illustrations for other fountain designs. It will also include reproductions of relevant photographs from the Harlan scrapbooks at Drake University, the State Historical Society of Iowa and the J.C. Cunningham collection in the Iowa State University Archives.
- Jerome Thompson, guest curator
This exhibition is guest curated by Jerome Thompson and coordinated by University Museums, with support by Lorraine Bruns Estate, Carol and David Hawn, Beverly and Warren Madden, Rae Reilly, and University Museums Membership.
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0)
