Lady of the Mist, (sculpture).

Lady of the Mist, (sculpture).

Ferguson, Duncan, 1901-1974, sculptor.

Struppeck, Jules, sculptor.

Architectural Stone Company, fabricator.

Lady of the Mist, (sculpture).

Lady, (sculpture).

1938. Cast June 1938. Dedicated summer 1938.

Digital Reference:

Figure: cast stone mixture of cement with marble or granite; Base: concrete; Basin: concrete and red brick.

Figure: approx. H. 5 ft. x Diam. 4 ft.; Base: approx. H. 2 ft. x W. 3 ft.; Basin: approx. H. 2 ft. x Diam. 29 ft.

(On plaque on basin, raised letters:) "THE LADY OF THE MIST"/THIS FOUNTAIN WAS A GIFT OF THE WOMEN'S/PANHELLENIC ASSOCIATION OF RUSTON IN/1938. IT IS THE WORK OF ARTIST DUNCAN/FERGESON AND JULES STRUPPECK. THE FIGURE/SYMBOLIZES "ALMA MATER" GREETING NEW/STUDENTS AND BIDDING FAREWELL TO/GRADUATES./VANDALIZED IN 1981, SHE WAS REMOVED FROM/THE CAMPUS. BUT WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE RHA, SGA, PANHELLENIC, AWS AND THROUGH THE/COORDINATED EFFORTS OF GREG THOMPSON,/THE STATUE WAS RESTORED IN 1983 AND PROUDLY/RETURNED TO THE QUADRANGLE IN 1985

A barefoot woman kneels on her proper right knee, with arms outspread. Her hair is parted in the middle and braided or twisted to frame her face. She wears an ankle-length, long-sleeved dress. The figure is painted off-white and placed on a pedestal in the middle of a circular basin. Water sprays from the fountain onto the sculpture. Four lights are positioned on the inside wall of the fountain.

Figure female -- Full length

Outdoor Sculpture -- Louisiana -- Ruston

Administered by Louisiana Tech University, Special Programs, P. O. Box 3172, Ruston, Louisiana 71272

Located Louisiana Tech University, In the center of the Quadrangle, Ruston, Louisiana

The figure was a gift of the Women's Panhellenic Association of Ruston in 1938 and cost $500. It was designed by LSU art professor Duncan Ferguson and graduate assistant Jules Struppeck. The original fountain (now destroyed) was built by Lambert Landscape (Shreveport, LA). The sculpture, popularly known as "The Lady," acquired its name several years after being installed. In 1981 vandals decapitated the figure. The figure was restored and a replacement head cast by Thomas Lachine and Associates. The sculpture was reinstalled in 1985. (The dates of the replacement fountain are unknown). IAS files contain related articles from The Tech Talk, vol. 13, no. 1; and vol. 58, no. 3; and related excerpt from North Louisiana Historical Journal, Fall 1993, pg. 33-37.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Louisiana survey, 1996.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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