The Watering Hole by Katie, Kyle and Sheila

The Watering Hole
Our group first came up with the idea of ‘The Watering Hole’ when we got together as a group and verbally projected our individual ideas with the intention that we would eventually land on something which struck a chord with all three of us. Initially we played with the concept of a water feature of some sort, and went on to develop thoughts and ideas of ways in which we could link the art piece to Butler. The location of East Mall just outside Clowes Hall was almost a given as we all thought that this was one of the areas on the Butler Campus most in need of some visual appeal, while it was Sheila’s drawing of the piece which triggered the excitement and enthusiasm amongst the group.
Once we had the picture of our Sculpture we could really get to grips with the mechanics of the art piece and the ideas of how it could function and be self sustainable and what materials it could be constructed with really started to flow. The ‘arms’ of the sculpture would be made of a smooth combination of solar panels and silver metal plating to create a certain sleekness and reflective effect which would complement the water feature. At the base of each of the four arms would be a wishing well, the walls of which would be made of high quality dark, kind of erratic looking rock, the idea being that people will throw their coins into the wells as they make a wish and the metallic reflection of the coins will compliment the appearance of the arms. From the wells, a discreet tube would run up the underside of the metal arms as they project from the wells in an arch-like form and become intertwined at the top where the water will spurt out and run down the outside of the arms back into the well.
Aside from the water feature of the sculpture, its appearance would be sophisticated and grand to tie in with the Liberal Arts theme of the University. The intertwining of the ‘arms’ is also symbolic of the crossing of paths and cultures, a theme which is of growing importance while at Butler. It’s location outside of Clowes Hall serves as a convenient gateway to the Butler Campus and therefore it would be the first object visitors would see. First Impressions are of great importance and we think that our sculpture would provide a great talking point and impress future Butler students and alumni.