Neighbors and friends gathered under umbrellas on Saturday, May 30 to celebrate the reopening of a fountain on West Newton hill, following eight months of repairs. The bronze sculpture, titled Child with Calla Lily Leaves, was first installed on the small traffic island at the corner of Chestnut and Highland Streets in 1903.
The fountain was created by pioneering 19th-century artist Anne Whitney, best known for her monumental statues of Founding Father Samuel Adams outside Faneuil Hall and anti-slavery Senator Charles Sumner in Harvard Square. Near the end of her career, Whitney created this more delicate work for the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. The fountain was then erected in West Newton to honor the life of Anne Whitney’s friend, Catherine Porter Lambert. The Lamberts resided nearby at 128 Chestnut Street (built in 1854, a City of Newton Local Landmark) and shared Whitney’s commitment to the abolition movement and social justice.
At the re-dedication ceremony on May 30, Newton’s Arts & Culture Director Meryl Kessler highlighted the value of public art and the role of ongoing collaborations between the community and the City. In 1995, a neighborhood group, the Friends of the Fountain, had mobilized to rescue the broken statue from a City storage warehouse.
In 2025, neighbors again raised funds for restoration of the statue, carried out by Buccacio Sculpture Services. Volunteers from Newton Garden Buds revitalized the landscaping. Derek Mannion and Rob McClary from the City’s Parks & Recreation team devised a water-efficient pump solution. A high school senior, Naia Yu, designed a scavenger hunt “quest” for families. The new interpretive sign on the island includes a QR code leading to an information page on Historic Newton’s website.