The lovely bronze Diana, Roman goddess of the moon, is worshipped by two bronze cherubs, one raising his arm in homage, the other holding a slender horn to his lips while water sprays the air.
Not far away, Donatello Gabbrielli’s bronze casting of Pomoma, goddess of the vineyards and orchards, holds grapes in her slender hands as she stands proudly upon a circular pedestal while a sheet of water pours down like a cataract from its surface.
A hirsute Neptune, clutching a trident as tightly as a vice in his right fist, sits astride one of three horses that have streams of water shooting from their mouths and noses into a shallow concrete pool. This lead artwork was cast in Worcestershire, England, in 1911.
So where are these fountains? London? Paris? Rome?
No, our locale is much more American.
As the summer evening sun casts its rays on the pitcher’s mound a few miles to the east, roughly a dozen fountains lined up like fence posts shoot up from the ground, spewing water several feet into the air in right field as batting practice is about to begin at Kauffman Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals.
Kansas City long known for jazz and barbecue, has another noteworthy association: fountains of all shapes, sizes, styles and design, numbering in the hundreds and located on both the Missouri and Kansas sides of the city. Some are on the grounds of private homes but dozens are in public places, waiting to be seen.
One might ask, “Why Kansas City?” It was that type of question that led to the fountain amassment. The first fountains were horse troughs back when Kansas City was still a dusty remnant of the Old West. The spouts kept the water recycled and fresh for the horses. In time, many were moved into blighted areas as a kind of early urban renewal. In later decades, some of the city’s nouveau riche traveled to Europe and came home impressed by the classical fountains they had seen on the continent.
“Kansas City is somewhat of an enigma,” said Pat O’Neill, president of the City of Fountains Foundation. “A lot still associate it with hitching posts, horses and buggies, and the Old West, even though we were once called the Paris of the Plains. A lot of our early philanthropists and business leaders wanted to prove to the world that we are a cosmopolitan city.
“The fountains are like public art but also a reflection of the character and personality of the city. We’re at the junction of two major rivers, so water is an important part of our character.”
Some of Kansas City’s fountains, especially those depicting mythic figures in allegorical settings, were purchased and brought here from other locales, according to the City of Fountains Foundation's website. Gabbrielli’s Pomona, crafted in Florence, is a copy of a marble original standing in Bangkok. The Fountain of Bacchus, holding court over fawning nymphs and satyrs, is a product of Worcestershire, England, like the Neptune fountain. The Four Fauns Fountain, which features four of the Roman god Faunus' children, was purchased in Brindisi, Italy, in 1928.
The most famous of Kansas City’s waterworks, the J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain, was built in Paris in 1910, then for decades decked the back lawn of a Long Island millionaire’s plush estate. Brought here in the 1950s, it is dominated by four horsemen, said to represent four of the world’s great rivers: the Mississippi, the Volga, the Seine and the Rhine.
Want an even more fulfilling American touch? One would be hard-pressed to find overseas anything similar to the Muse of the Missouri, a goddess holding a net and blessing the rambling river. According to kcfountains.com, sculptor Wheeler Williams planned to include native fish pouring from the muse’s netting. But he "found catfish too ugly and carp unworkable," so the nine sculpted fish one sees today have carp bodies and bluefish heads.
The bronze and steel Harvester KC is a tribute to the city where it stands. Incorporated in this folk art fountain is everything one would associate with this part of the country, from sunflowers and a windmill to wheat and a tractor part. And, of course, it boasts ears of corn crafted in bronze.
It would take a few hours to drive around the metro area to see every fountain, but that could be tiring and give a person visual indigestion. However, several are concentrated in a few parts of the city and easily seen on foot. Country Club Plaza, roughly four miles south of downtown, is the centerpiece of Kansas City’s shopping and social life. In and around the plaza are nearly a dozen fountains within walking distance. This is where one can see the Fountain of Neptune and Pomona. On Country Club Plaza’s fringes is the equine-embellished J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain.
When we visited, the J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain’s waters had been colored orange, part of a charity event to raise money for stroke victims. Dye jobs aren’t uncommon. When the Kansas City Royals were in the 2014 World Series, the bouncing waters all over town had been colored royal blue.
One can also take a downtown walking tour to see the Muse of the Missouri and four others. Parking is available on the street and at Union Station and the Crown Center. O’Neill also recommends one of his favorite hidden gems: the Eagle Scout Memorial Fountain. Located at the corner of 39th Street and Gillham Road, it was put here in the 1960's as a tribute to the city’s highly honored Scouts. It originally stood over an entrance to New York City’s historic Penn Station. Once here, the statuary’s clock was replaced by an Eagle Scout badge.
It is possible that some fountains may not be operating when you visit. It’s not easy keeping them fully operational in a city with four distinct seasons, O’Neill explains. “The functional life span of a fountain here is about 20 years,” he said. “With all the freezing and defrosting, pipes and valves rust and much maintenance work is needed.
“An annual harbinger of spring is in April when we turn all the fountains on,” he added. “It’s like, ‘We can breathe again; we made it through another Midwest winter.’”
If you go ...
What: Kansas City fountains
Where: Greater Kansas City area
When: The fountains are generally operating from mid-April into mid-October
Phone: 816-842-2299
Web: kcfountains.org
Michael Schuman graduated cum laude from Syracuse University in 1975, and received a MFA in Professional Writing in 1977 from the University of Southern California. He lives with his family in New England and can be reached at mschuman@ne.rr.com .