Font Reanimation
Public Spaces, Philadelphia, 2021 - 2024
The Font Reanimation project is fundamentally rooted in the principles of public art, emphasizing community engagement and social connection. Peoples reanimated Philadelphia's and Fairmount Park's now defunct historic fountains through the installation of simple, removable sculptures that emulate the symbolic bubbling and gurgling of water. These interventions draw attention to the beautiful 19th-century stone drinking fountains that are inconspicuously situated in parks and neighborhoods throughout the city, providing an unexpected medium for public interaction with art. These architectural elements stand as relics, embodying an intriguing historical incongruity between past intentions and present functionality.
John IV.13: "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again."
Baptismal Font, Lemon Hill Pet Fountain, Wood, steel pipe, paint, 5’ x 4’ x 4’, 2021
This historic fountain sits non-functioning on Sedgley Drive just a bit north of Kelly Drive on Sedgley Drive near Lemon Hill in Fairmount Park. The font was reanimated with a simple minimalist sculpture made from wood, steel pipe and paint, bringing life back to this historic architectural element.
The project aspires to conduct extensive documentation of these existing structures. The culmination of this research could potentially manifest in an exhibition comprising writings, hand-drawn maps, rubbings, and both technical and expressive charcoal and pencil renderings that capture each fountain's distinct characteristics. This aspiration underscores the project's dual focus on historical preservation and contemporary artistic intervention in public spaces.
This historic fountain sits non-functioning on Sedgley Drive just a bit north of Kelly Drive on Sedgley Drive near Lemon Hill in Fairmount Park. The font was reanimated with a simple minimalist sculpture made from wood, steel pipe and paint, bringing life back to this historic architectural element.
The project aspires to conduct extensive documentation of these existing structures. The culmination of this research could potentially manifest in an exhibition comprising writings, hand-drawn maps, rubbings, and both technical and expressive charcoal and pencil renderings that capture each fountain's distinct characteristics. This aspiration underscores the project's dual focus on historical preservation and contemporary artistic intervention in public spaces.
"A MERCIFUL MAN IS MERCIFUL TO HIS BEAST"
"Fresh drinking water was not easy to come by on the streets of Philadelphia 150 years ago posing practical problems for working people and animals given the city’s sweltering summers. It wasn’t until social reform agendas - the temperance, humane and sanitary movements - in the late 19th century that Philadelphians started building horse troughs and fountains to satisfy the city’s thirst.
Several fountains installed were inscribed with mottos to inspire kinder treatment of animals- like those at 3rd and Bainbridge ("DRINK GENTLE FRIENDS") and at 9th and Clinton ("A MERCIFUL MAN IS MERCIFUL TO HIS BEAST"). Some had biblical references, while others simply bear the names of donors who made their installation possible. According to Fountain Society records at the Pennsylvania Historical Society, in 1880 there were 50 fountains operating 180 days per year, serving an estimated 3 million people and 1 million horses and other animals. Plus, the amount of horse deaths declined." Curbside Refreshment for Man and Beast, Ashley Hahn, WHYY, May 29, 2013 |