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Hollywood Bowl Sculpture “Muse of Music, Dance, Drama” (Los Angeles, California)

USA / California / West Hollywood / Los Angeles, California
 statue, art -(to be removed, see EN descr.), sculpture

“Muse of Music, Dance, Drama” sculpture and fountain designed by George Stanley, the designer of the Oscar statuette.

The monument was built from 1938-1940 as a WPA project and its purpose was as the "gateway to Hollywood." It was the largest of the hundreds of WPA sculpture projects in Southern California.

The monument is composed of a multi-tiered concrete structure faced with granite blocks. A complex fountain system circulates water to pools at various levels of the monument. Granite sculptures depicting the three muses: Music, Dance, and Drama are mounted on the monument. The central figure of Music, 15' in height, is depicted in a kneeling position playing a harp. Dance and Drama, each 10' in height, are depicted as standing figures, located in niches along the sides of the monument. There is an entrance to the fountain pump and electrical system on the top tier, adjacent to the figure of Music.

For many years, it was a symbol of "Hollywood decay" as it lay in disrepair, and was overgrown with weeds. The plumbing and lighting systems had failed, the sculptures were decaying, and it was ignored, mostly because it could not be seen, even though it's position is prominent on the corner of Highland Ave. and the entrance to the Hollywood Bowl.

In 2006 the complex monument underwent a complete restoration and is now the jewel of the Hollywood Bowl.

George Stanley, the creator, was not only responsible for this creation and the Oscar statuette, but for the statue of Sir Isaac Newton statue in the Astronomers Monument at the Griffith Observatory.
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Coordinates:   34°6'42"N   118°20'11"W
This article was last modified 12 years ago