Fountain of Life
The Fountain of Life was designed by the popular artist Jennifer Johnson along with the help of Reuel Young who is an architect, the Fountain of Life was created by House of Stone and Fountains and Landscape Enhancements. The pieces of it were taken from the adoquin stones of a quarry close to Guadalajara in Mexico by artisan families. When all the pieces have arrived, it was Johnson who spent almost more than 12 months embellishing the said fountain with mosaic glass and tile pieces that are hand cut.
With the aim of reflecting the desert’s history and nature, the fountain is composed of three center columns embraced by sculptures of images after sheeps, tortoises, shells, fishes, lizards, wildflowers and birds in the said area. They say that the symbolism of the hen and the rooster has something to do with the crucial role of a family in culture of the Anglo and Latino. In the stone embedding is a Cahuilla Basket which pays tribute to the Cahuilla Indians who protects the children the most in the deserts.
The primary donors of the fountain were Buddy and Beverly Rogers. The overruling theme of the overall design of the fountain lies in the spiral which serves as a symbol of unceasing birth and revival of the presence of the Cathedral City in the downtown area. This spiral is apparent from the underlying ground, the huge basins, on top of the shade structure and in the large horns of the gigantic sheep.
Within the fountain is a form that follows that of a big sceptre which suggests Cathedral City’s pursuit to monarchy among the cities in the valley. The fountain’s asymmetry gives balance to the strict symmetry of the Civic Center. It has a tri-color surface which is soft and made out of recycled tires and serves as a soft foundation for public play areas for kids.
The fountain of life is not only known as an artistic exploit, but moreover an engineering wonder. All the columns were designed with the use of steer rod irons to endure even the worst of earthquake events. Each stone has its own support of a concrete pad which is then tied up to a core concrete cone that lies on a concrete base which is five feet deep.
All these stone pieces were particularly numbered before transporting so that the assembly of the fountain would be done in an easier pace. It is also designed to follow a system that is recirculating. There is water filter with bromine treatment to keep the water clean and steer away from unnecessary calcium build up. Such is known to make the brilliance of the tiles look dull in time.
The fountain also has a lighting system which involves three major parts: the low voltage lights placed on the trellises for the overall lighting effect; the 300-watt lights that illuminate the fountain’s bowls; and the fiber optic system which is composed of a total of 29 lights that are operated by a computer system which can be easily adjusted for color and timing.