Playing in the Rain, (sculpture).

Playing in the Rain, (sculpture).

Anderson, Dallas Jasper, sculptor.

Fulcer, Jack, welder.

Brumbaugh, Len, contractor.

Neenah Bronze and Aluminum Foundry, founder.

Walla Walla Foundry, founder.

Miller Electric Manufacturing Company, contractor.

Miller Thermal, contractor.

Playing in the Rain, (sculpture).

Modeled 1991. Dedicated July 2, 1993.

Sculpture: cast bronze; Base and pool: granite.

Sculpture: approx. H. 24 ft.; Pool: Diam: 74 ft.

The fountain sculpture is composed of ten children of various ages, wearing swimsuits, joyously playing in the rain. The children dance on and around six poles of various heights which extend from a hexagonal granite base. The tallest pole in the center of the fountain sprays water down over the children periodically at the top of every hour. A series of smaller water jets bubble water around the edge of the granite base and into the fountain pool below. Two of the children, a boy and a girl, stand on top of two poles, one foot on top of each pole. Another boy sits on top of one of the poles and a girl in pigtails swings around the middle of one of the poles. A baby crawls in the center between the poles and the rest of the children frolic in between the poles or around the edge of the base.

Recreation -- Sport & Play

Landscape -- Weather -- Rain

Outdoor Sculpture -- Wisconsin -- Neenah

Riverside Park, East Wisconsin Avenue, Neenah, Wisconsin

This fountain project was first proposed in 1988 and fund raising began in 1989. The project took over four years to complete and cost $450,000. The artist used local school children as models for the figures. The Walla Walla Foundry handled the casting of the ten child figures and the Neenah Bronze and Aluminum Foundry cast the six poles. IAS files contain an article from the Miller Electric Manufacturing Company's magazine, MEMCO News (Fall 1993), which describes the construction process in detail. Jack Fulcer of Miller Electric Mfg. Co. assisted the artist in welding the six poles. Len Brumbaugh of Miller Thermal company applied a thermal spray coating and a silicon bronze coating on the poles. Artisans from the Walla Walla Foundry applied a special paint-like coating to create a green patina. IAS files contain newspaper articles from The Post-Crescent (Wisconsin), July 3, 1993 and July 3, 991.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Wisconsin survey, 1995.

Post-Crescent (Wisconsin), July 3, 1993.

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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