Transcription:
Showalter fountain mystery still unsolved
By Alaina Byers
For much of the student population, Showalter Fountain, located in front of the lU Auditorium, is just a piece of scenery on the daily walk to class. But few know the story behind the fountain, or the mystery that still exists behind it.
Sherry Rouse, University campus art curator, said the fountain bas been a part of the University since 1961. Since then, many legends have developed around the dolphins included in the sculpture.
Folklore professor John Johnson shared one such myth.
“It is said, rather tongue-in-cheek, that when a virgin graduates from JU, one of the dolphins will swim away," he said. "No one really believes this statement; it is merely a form of folk-lore and rather sexist at that."
Rouse said these legends and folklore are merely circulated for fun. Another example, she said, is the myth of the tradition of graduating students jumping into the fountain every May.
Despite the legends behind the fountain, a real-life mystery still haunts its existence. Two of the original dolphins included in the sculpture, which were designed by former IU professor Robert Laurent, have been missing for years.
Rouse said Laurent, who taught sculpture from 1942 to 1961, created the design for the sculpture, which resembles Botticelli's painting "The Birth of Venus," on a trip to Italy. The University unveiled his creation at the event of his retirement in 1961. This sculpture, Rouse said, is his "greatest effort."
Rouse said these two dolphins were each stolen in different years, one in 1976 and the other in 1987. Both were taken after the IU victory in an NCAA championship. The University has not recovered either dolphin as of yet. Neither dolphin has been recovered, although both have been replaced.
"It is hard to figure out how you're going to get that back," said Rouse. "It is almost an impossible thing to do and outrageously expensive. Especially since they were made by a specific artist for a specific purpose."
But two of the dolphins included in his "greatest effort" remain missing, leaving an underlying question: where would someone put a two-ton dolphin?
"I have always imagined Lhal the fish are in some off-campus party room, decorated with Christmas lights," said Kathy Foster, another University art curator.
Others speculate that the dolphins are far from campus, in a location where the owner does not even know what they are.
"My guess is they may be a trophy somewhere in some-body's house," said Rouse. "I bet the people that live in that house now might not even know what they are."
Rouse and other art curators involved with the museum said they still would welcome the return of the dolphins or any information leading to the return of the two pieces of art.
"I would be happy to accept those dolphins through an anonymous tip or grant clemency to those with the courage to return them to their rightful home," Rouse said. "Surely, the perpetrators are long since graduated, with or without their virginity, so why not let the rest of us enjoy the sculpture as it was meant to be?"
