Commitment to Public Sculpture in Chicago was the fantasy of Lorado Taft

Last week Chicago Tribune published a list of 10 public sculptures in the city that must be seen. Lorado Taft designed two of the ten works highlighted in the article by Mary Wisniewski, The Fountain of Time and the Art Institute outdoor sculpture gardens which includes The Fountain of the Great Lakes (shown above).

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/08/07/chicago-outdoor-public-art/

Let’s use this information to get 500 signatures! His popularity is one more reason to urge the Art Institute to give Lorado Taft a prominent part when the museum reinstalls the American Galleries.  Taft was and is a Chicago treasure.  

I personally count The Solitude of the Soul the greatest of his works. Highly original, it challenges the viewer and provokes contemplation. The Art Institute should be honored to have it in its collection. In 1910, The Friends of American Art at the Art Institute paid to have it sculpted, based on the plaster cast.

The Ferguson Fund paid for the bronze Fountain of the Great Lakes, in front of the Art Institute's Michigan Avenue entrance. Taft’s workshop methods were collaborative, with 5 different students coming up with the conception for the figures of the each of the Great Lakes. However, he tweaked individual pieces and pulled the final composition together. 

We can thank Lorado Taft for pushing Chicago to support public sculpture. An inscription next to Taft’s marble sculptures in Garfield Park says: “I wish every small park and playground might have its fit sculptural adornment—a kindly genius of the spot. Such an image would stand in memory for the place and pleasure that it has given. One’s affections gradually entwine these gracious symbols and they serve to make memories more vivid.”