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Sunday, September 25, 2016

Rookwood Fountain, Withrow High School

For ninety-six years, students have walked past the Rookwood fountain that sits between the front steps and the tower of Cincinnati's Withrow High School. Rookwood was a local business, famed for their art pottery and tiles. For most students, the fountain was just...there, bubbling away as they came and went. I was lucky to have six years to study that fountain and sketch the astrological symbols. I looked at it so often that it's easy to recognize those exact shades of blues, greens and golds when they appear on vases or tiles in antiques shops. Something like a fountain may seem extraneous when planning a school these days.  Everyday art, right there where you live or work or go to school  is important. It can get in your head and stay with you for the rest of your life.