Crown Fountain in Millennium Park

In my wild dash to see The Bean in Chicago, I spotted the Crown Fountain in Millennium Park also, and was enchanted!

On the hot and humid day I was there, I stumbled across the fountain with the changing faces as I was leaving the Park to get a cab back to the airport. The moving image of the inside panel of one of the glass blocks caught my eye....a face of a man pulling faces. And then puckering up, this face supplied the visual spout for one feature of the water fountain. Much to the delight of all the squealing children running around and through the fountain spurts.


This fountain is a real life ode to the gargoyle concept, and reportedly features 1000 Chicago residents filmed to appear at either end of the facing panels, to spout their water. Between the upright panels are water jets popping up at random, which makes this stop in the Park a fun Summer find.

I saw a couple of faces during the quick stop I made, and would have loved to stay longer to see more of the characters captured. The water jets looked like fun, but the real life feel of these panels make this artwork at Millennium Park worth searching for once visitors have seen the much more famous Cloud Gate.