Fountains and Fonts

Today (September 20, 2001) Linda McCane, a Spartanburg Artist, visited our class. She shared her interest and research on fountains in the urban landscape and discussed her recent trip to Rome where she studied the role that fountains play in that great city. She led us in an excellent discussion about how fountains affect the attitudes within a community. For example fountains add beauty, provide places for people to gather, soothe tensions, build community pride, and indicate economic prosperity to visitors. Linda is active in efforts to revitalize downtown Spartanburg, and she gave us an assignment to share with her our ideas for the design and placement of new fountains in our community!

In front of the Wofford fountain - an important symbol of pride and fun for this college community. Front row: Erin, Beth, Ginny, Margaret, Amelia and Dr. Goldey. Back row: Pof. Lane, Jason, Chris, Alan, Tiffany, Shiel, Ashley (teaching assistant), Josh, Thomas, Barry, Carter, Park and Copeland. Our other teaching assistant, Kris Neely, is not shown because he was taking the picture!

Following Linda's discussion, we took a walking tour to explore the existing fountains on the Wofford campus and in the city of Spartanburg. We explored the aesthetics of particular fountains, and discussed how they affected us emotionally and how they contributed to our feelings about a place.

Prof. Lane and Ellie May lead the way!		Our first stop is the fountain between the Olin and Papadopoulos buildings -- it drew mixed reactions.
		Prof. Lane, a devout tree hugger, demonstrates his technique to Alan (left) and Chris (middle). This majestic old tree lives behind the Papadopoulos building.

The interactive fountain at Barnet Park was the clear favorite in our walking tour of Spartanburg, and you can see from the pictures below the effect that the fountain had on all of us. It lifted our spirits to the point that we all felt silly and happy while we were there -- and we took turns running through the fountain. It helped us realize the beneficial effect that such a special water place has on the community!

Amelia and Beth laugh their way through.		Carter (above) takes off!
Thomas is game for getting wet!		Ginny's smile says it all!

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