Congratulations to Arlene Andrew, one of 20 readers who correctly identified last week’s “Where am I?” as the late Jack Edwards’ 1975 scupture “Rainbow Fountain” at Mt. San Antonio Gardens retirement community in Pomona. It so happened that Edwards’ sculpture appeared in the Courier on March 13, which would have been his 86^th birthday. Arlene is now entered into the year-end drawing for a one-year subscription to everyone’s favorite award-winning local newspaper, the Claremont Courier. So, “Where am I” this week? Email your answer, full name, and city of residence — and suggestions for future mystery photos — to contest@claremont-courier.com for your chance to win. Courier photo/Tom Smith

Always making rainbows

by Dick Johnson | Special to the Courier

Have you ever seen the Rainbow Fountain that graces the grounds of The Gardens between the F building and H cottages? Have you wondered where it came from, or how it got here? And have you wondered, by the way, just where is the rainbow?

The answers, now almost lost to history, are quite remarkable. In 1975 a wealthy industrialist in Colorado Springs, Colorado, commissioned Jack Edwards to produce a structure that would be installed in the center courtyard of his substantial home. A well-respected artist and instructor at Colorado College, Jack used Cor-Ten steel to create an eight-foot-tall fountain. Artist, patron, friends, all were happy with the result.

The industrialist then met, married and brought home a new wife, a former Playboy Playmate — at least that’s how Jack, known for his tendency to embellish at times, told the story. The former Playmate had it removed and returned to Jack.

Unexpected events later brought Jack and his family from Colorado Springs to Upland. For a time, Jack became a seismic safety building inspector. It appeared that art, his first love, had to give way. But there in the back yard of their Upland home towered the Rainbow Fountain, carried all the way over the Rocky Mountains from Colorado.

Years passed. Jack applied to The Gardens. When his application was accepted, Jack hesitated. “What’s wrong?” his family asked as they assembled around the kitchen table. “I can’t leave my fountain,” Jack confessed. “Then tell The Gardens!” they urged.

Resident Peggy Phelps took up the crusade. A great lover of local art and artists, in 2013 she helped to choose the fountain location and quickly found donors to raise the $20,000 that Will Levitt estimated it would cost to move and install it. Jack chose to live in an apartment in the F Building where he could see the fountain every day. Artist, residents, The Gardens, all were very happy.

But wait: where are the rainbows?

When asked, Jack’s son Lonny explained that the geometry of the fountain was designed to produce a rainbow effect, and the fan shaped sprays were designed specifically to catch the light and create rainbows. “The fountain has no meaning,” Lonny said, “no symbolism, no representation, just geometry and physics being used to create joy. [Jack] loved to play with the idea of negative space, and the idea that the sculpture in a sense is secondary to the rainbows is a bit of a magic trick. You look at the sculpture, but you see the rainbows.”

If you have been in the habit of blindly passing the fountain, it’s time now to stop and take another look. That same Will Levitt, now vice president of facilities and project management, has recently replaced the nozzles and restored the spray jets close to their original shimmering splendor.

Arlene Andrew says, “The rainbows can be seen when the sun is low and behind the person looking at the fountain, just as rainbows in the sky are visible only when directly opposite the sun.”

Over the years the Rainbow Fountain has acquired additional meanings and become a living part of The Gardens. Old-timers even recall when rubber duckies held a convention under the fountain spray. The restored fountain has encouraged a rumor that the rubber duckies will soon return.

The Rainbow Fountain

Jack Edwards formed me

For a wealthy man in Colorado

Whose new bride

Abhorred me

Banished me

But Jack loved me

And told The Gardens

Take me? Also take

My Rainbow Fountain

I rise from the pond

An offering to you

Come, I call

Sit with me

Pray with me

Cry with me

Laugh with me

My hummingbirds come

To drink my fountain spray

I am grateful

I invite each Gardener

Pause, linger

Enjoy my peace

This story and poem by Dick Johnson originally appeared in the October 2025 issue of Green Leaf, a residents’ publication of Mt. San Antonio Gardens.