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2 Stone Animal-Themed

Fountain Frieze

ARTIST: Louise Pflasterer Ross
ARRIVAL/UNVEILED: Approximately 1939
MEDIUM: Stone
LOCATION: Discovery Center Lobby

This large fountain frieze was carved from stone by Ross,
also a WPA artist. Her menagerie of stylized zoo animals—
including elephants, a rhinoceros, a hippopotamus, a lion,
bears, an alligator, turtles, penguins, snakes, and a
kangaroo—are embedded in a 5.5- by 8.5-foot stone slab.
The fountain frieze originally decorated the Refectory (now
BZ Red Hots) where it was enjoyed by restaurant customers.
Sculptor and educator Ross graduated from the Univer-
sity of Chicago and worked in the Sculpture Division of
the Illinois Art Project of the WPA in Chicago. She also
worked in New York.

3 Girl with Piglet and
Boy with Chicken

ARTIST: Sylvia Shaw Judson
ARRIVAL/UNVEILED: 1960
MEDIUM: Bronze
LOCATION: Outside Bramsen Animal Ambassador Pavilion

In memory of her first husband, former Chicago Zoological Society
Board President Clay Judson, Sylvia Shaw Judson sculpted the statue
of two children holding animals, sometimes referred to as the
“Farm Children.” It was originally displayed outside the entrance
to the Children’s Zoo.
Chicago-based sculptor Judson was internationally renowned
for her sculptures depicting children and animals that are displayed
in public parks and private gardens around the world. They include
“Little Gardener” at the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden at the White
House and “Bird Girl,” which was photographed for the cover of
the novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
Judson was the daughter of famous Chicago architect, Howard
Van Doren Shaw, whom she credited with inspiring her work.

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GATEWAYS | ART LOVERS