Culver City, CA
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Photo: schafphoto.com
Culver City’s Art in Public Places Program was established by ordinance in 1988, with the view that cultural and artistic resources:
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Enhance the quality of life for individuals living and working within a city; and,
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Preserve and improve the quality of the urban environment, increase real property values, and have a positive economic impact.
View or download a copy of the Art Ordinance.
Downtown Cultural Walking Tour
The 30th anniversary of the APPP was celebrated in 2018 with the publication of the Art in Public Places Downtown Cultural Walking Tours Guide. Get a copy of the walking tours booklet.
You can also follow a mobile app of the tour via Otocast with narration by the artists. Once you have downloaded the app for your device, allow the app to access your location in Culver City, then select the "Art in Public Places" item to start your Tour!
THE LION'S FOUNTAIN
Amenities:- Public Art
- Additional Address Information(Town Plaza)
The Lion's Fountain was commissioned by the Culver City Redevelopment Agency as the public art component of the Town Plaza development project. The fountain is comprised of an eight foot tall bronze lion sculpture surrounded by forty lighted jets that shoot streams of water high into the air. The Lion's Fountain has become a focal point of Town Plaza, delighting visitors with its carefree demeanor and dancing water jets.
Douglas Olmsted Freeman, a Minneapolis based sculptor, was awarded this commission, in part because of his success in creating sculptures and designing spaces that invite the viewer to participate, to imagine, and to play. Some of Mr. Freeman's other large-scale installations include: A Spiral of Birds (1991) in St. Paul, MN; The Fountain of the Wind (1994), in Duluth, MN; and Shichifukujin - The Seven Lucky Gods of Japan (1995), and The Seven Animals of Akabane (1996) in Tokyo, Japan.
Although the theme for this art work is inspired by other lions associated with Culver City's movie studio history (MGM's Leo the Lion and the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz), this lion is neither a representation nor direct interpretation of either of these felines.