The Fountain's Creation

The Uncle Wilber Fountain was designed by Kat and Bob Tudor, long-time members of the area's vibrant arts community, and donated to the city of Colorado Springs by the Smokebrush Foundation for the Arts. The fountain is truly a collaborative project involving both public and private entities, as the city now owns it and is responsible for its on-going maintenance, but hundreds of area residents and businesses, along with the private Smokebrush Foundation, have contributed to its creation, installation, and upkeep.

Kat Tudor, an artist and founder of Smokebrush, and her husband Bob, an artist, composer, and musician, first began to think about designing a musical, kinetic water sculpture and donating it to the city in the late 1990s, when then-mayor Mary Lou Makepeace expressed an interest in adding a fountain to downtown's Acacia Park. In exchange for their generous gift, the Tudors asked only for complete creative control over the project.

Thus began the Tudor's search for the perfect fountain concept. They toured the country, looking at all sorts of fountains as well as rivers, falls, and other natural bodies of water. They realized that they wanted to create a work that was inviting, whimsical, and somewhat unpredictable, like a waterfall. At the time, the Tudors ran the Smokebrush Center for Arts and Theater on Nevada Avenue, a popular and critically acclaimed venue for theater, music, and visual arts renowned for introducing much original work to the Colorado Springs community. Read More.