Location and Installation
left: Taft at work in Lorado Taft Midway Studios (1913); center: Taft standing on Time (1920); right: Fountain of Time around the time of its completion (1920)Time is in the Chicago Park District, in the Washington Park community area on Chicago's South Side, near the Midway Plaisance. This location, adjoining the University of Chicago campus directly to the East, makes the sculpture a contributing structure to the Washington Park federal Registered Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Time is considered to be the most important piece of monumental art in the Park District, which hosts over 100 art works. Its importance stems from its sculptor, its message, the era in which it was created, and the design of its reflecting pool by Howard Van Doren Shaw. Robert Jones, director of design and construction for the Art Institute of Chicago at the time, stated in 1999 that Time was the first finished art piece to be made of any type of concrete.
The sculpture is located a few blocks from Taft's studio, the Lorado Taft Midway Studios, now a Chicago Landmark and National Historic Landmark, located at 60th Street and Ingleside Avenue. Other notable sculptures nearby include Henry Moore's National Historic Landmark Nuclear Energy, which is on the site of the first self-sustaining nuclear reaction at the University of Chicago. Jackson Park, connected to Washington Park and Time by the Midway Plaisance, hosts the Chicago Landmark Statue of the Republic; at one time the Midway Plaisance, Jackson Park and Washington Park were jointly known as "South Park".
There is little agreement on the dimensions of Time, with various sources describing it as between 102 to 127 feet (31.1 to 38.7 m) long. One of the few precise estimates describes it as 126 feet 10 inches (38.7 m) long, 23 feet 6 inches (7.2 m) wide and 24 feet (7.3 m) tall. The sources are often unclear about whether they are describing the width of the reflecting pool from exterior wall to exterior wall, the width of the water within the reflecting pool's interior walls, the width of the base of the sculpted mass of humanity, the width of the sculpted masses themselves, or the width of the parcel of land upon which Time is built.
Water began running in the completed sculpture on September 1, 1920, although it was not dedicated to the city until November 15, 1922. University of Chicago President Harry Pratt Judson delivered an address at the dedication ceremony at the Midway Plaisance, before contributions from Taft. President of the B.F. Ferguson Trust Charles Hutchinson, and John Barton Payne, President of the South Park Board.
Read more about this topic: Fountain Of Time