© Sally Bjork

Sea Nymph

November I Spy answer

by Sally Bjork

posted 12/2/2009

"I believe the photo is of the fountain 'Sea Nymph'...east of the Michigan League," writes Kristen Schleick--the only entrant to correctly identify November's feature. The turquoise-glazed ceramic sculpture of a sea nymph riding the waves atop a large fish is in the courtyard garden of the Michigan League. Clivia Calder executed the Gerald Mast design in 1938 as part of the Federal Art Program of the Works Progress Administration. Unlike other WPA projects, the FAP relied on sponsors to match funds to create works of art for public spaces. As sponsor of the work, the League obtained ownership of the fountain when the program ended in 1940. Calder was the FAP's supervisor of ceramics for the State of Michigan. According to Elizabeth Clemens in The Works Progress Administration in Detroit, Calder's sculptures, both small and large, "were in high demand by institutions throughout the state."

Our other three entrants, falling for a fishy similarity, guessed that the image showed the fountain on the west side of the League, Carl Milles' beloved "Sunday Morning In Deep Waters."

To enter this month's contest, use the photo and clue on the "Back Page" of the December Ann Arbor Observer to find the spot shown, then follow the instructions at the bottom of the page. The deadline for this month's drawing is December 10.   

[Originally published in December, 2009.]