wpa fountain in truth or consequences nm by eugenie shonnard, internationally renowned artist sierra...

SIERRA COT]NTY ARTISTS DIRECTORYSpring 2008 Volu411l lruth orlqlqqqqqgl \M

WPA Fountain atT or C's New MexicoVeterans Homeby Charles Bennett

An outdoor fountain in the centraloatio of the Veterans' Center isrecognized as one of New Mexico'sWPATreasures. Made of terra cotta,thefountain features 4frogs on the toptier,water emitting from their mouths,with a single stream shooting verticallyfrom the very top of the fountain. Foursitting ducks occupy the second tier,water springing from their mouths,with 4 turtles positioned at the base,heads turned, also with water streamsarcing from their mouths. The terracotta material of the sculpted reptilesand ducks is commonly misidentifiedas carved stone.

The artist of the fountain is EugenieShonnard, born 1886 in Yonkers, NewYork,dying 1978in Santa F6. Eugeniewas apparently a delicate child and notpermitted to engage in normalchildhood activities, instead findingpleasure in keeping birds, rabbits,squirrels, doves, a lamb, and otherspets. From these experiences shedeveloped a deep love for animal life.In early recognition of her artistic talentshe was enrolled in the New YorkSchoolof Applied Design forWomenwhile in her teens. Although shereceived accolades for her designs forsilk, lace, and wallpaper, she soon tiredof designing repetitive patterns, andbegan modeling clay. One of herteachers was the famousCzechoslovakian artist AlphonseMucha, who encouraged her to go toParis to study sculpture. Her fatherhaving died, Eugenie and her motherwent to France in 191 1.

In Paris Eugenie signed up for art

classes and showed several early claymodels to the renowned sculptorAuguste Rodin,who was favorablyimpressed and offered to critique hersculptures any time. She wasconsidered a student of EmileBourdelle, a pupil of Rodin. lt wascheaper for an artist to live in Paris thanin New York in those days. Eugenie andher mother shared a nicely furnishedapartment for S 10 a month near theLuxembourg Gardens. Her nearbystudio cost 53 a month.

Eugenie made the most of her timeabroad, traveling to Czechoslovakiawith Mucha one summer where shemade clay models of villagers, andspending several summers in Brittanysculpting and painting. One of thesculptures she made of a Brittanyvillager is in the collections of theMetropolitan Museum of Art in NewYork. Eugenie and her mother stayed inParis untilWorld War I was declared inAugust, 19,l4, returning to New York onthe last steamer leaving France. Thenext year she received perhaps hermost unusual commission from theBronx Zoo: sculpting the head of Dinah,a 5 year-old gorilla. For several monthsshe was closeted in a room with thegorilla, which became very fond of her.

ln 1925 Eugenie came to Santa F6 andwas given a studio in the Palace of theGovernors. She was deeply impressedby the Puebloan Indians living invillages along the Rio Grande studyingthem and modeling their busts in terracotta and olaster for which she waspraised. ln 1926 she returned to Pariswith a successful one-woman8{4

show featuring her animal, bird,Puebloan Indian, and Brittanysculptures. By now she was considereda noted sculptor and received manY

commissions. ln 1927 Eugenie and hermother returned to Santa F6, again atthe invitation of the museum. She

purchased a farm house on the out-skirts of town surrounded by orchards,converting the barn into a studio.

In 1937, during Clyde Tingley's secondterm as governor of New Mexico (1937-

1938) he miraculously secured federalfunding for construction of a hospitalfor crippled children. The hospital was

to be located in Hot Springs (nowTruthor Consequences), NM. Although thegovernor was the political clout behindthe establishment of the hospital, NewMexico First Lady Carrie WoosterTingley was the heart and soul of theproject, donating both time andconsiderable funds. When money ran

short, Governor Tingley used hisauthority to manipulate budgets onother projects to get more moneY, tohave trainloads of penitentiary bricksappropriated and transported to thebuilding site,to browbeat federalofficials, and to intimidate the railroadsand other big business in order tocomplete the hospital. The citizens ofHot Springs voted to have the hospitalnamed for Carrie Tingley. The hospitalooened in 1937 and remained in

operation until 'l 981 when itwasmoved to Albuquerque with its large

collection of WPA artwork. In 1983 thecomplex was renovated and currentlyserves as the New Mexico Veterans'Home.

Many artists in New Mexico wereemployed under the Federalgovernment's New Deal Public artsprograms created to employ artistsduring the Great Depression (1929-

1 943). Art produced under thesevarious programs has come to beknown as "WPA Art," an acronYm forthe New Deal program,theWorksProgress Administration.

Records indicate that EugenieShonnard was paid 5700 in WPA

Federal Art Project funds in 1937 tomake the fountain for the CarrieTingley Hospital for Crippled Children.She considered the fountain a majorcommission, mentioning in a 1964interview:"1 made the models and theplaster molds and then I had it put interra cotta. At the time they had a verybig kiln in Denver where the Piecescould be fired. .. I did that only in thestudio and it was pretty big size...l didit in sections." The subject matter ofthe fountain is said to reflect EugenieShonnard's "love for animal life". Some

locals refer to it as "the turtle fountain,"contextualizing it with TurtlebackMountain. The fountain may be visitedat the New Mexico State Veterans'Home,992 South BroadwaY,Truth orConseq uences, N M (57 5.894.4200).

Turtle Fountain atNew MexicoVeterans Homein Truth orConsequences

Photo: New Mexico veterans Home J+ 9