Entrance to Voorhies Memorial - Denver, CO
Posted by: Metro2
N 39° 44.410 W 104° 59.326
13S E 500962 N 4398919
This sculpture is located in Denver's Civic Center Park.
Waymark Code: WMBD83
Location: Colorado, United States
Date Posted: 05/08/2011
Views: 9
The Smithsonian Inventory (
visit link) describes this 1922 work thusly:
"Two bronze sea lions set in a pool. The sea lions are on opposite sides of the pool, facing and jetting water toward each other. A bronze, young, nude child sits astride each sea lion. The front, lower section of bronze in front of the east sea lion's feet has broken off and been removed."
The artist, Robert Garrison, was an American sculptor (May 30, 1895–1945) who made Denver his home. Unfortunately, the Wikipedia article on Garrison (
visit link) reveals little else beyond the fact that he is also the artist for the "Circuit Riders" at the Boston Avenue Methodist Church and the reliefs at Sixth Avenue side of Rockefeller Center in New York.
This website (
visit link) has a brief description of the Memorial, whose namesake, John Voorhies, was an early and prominent banker in Denver:
"Thanks to a gift from John Voorhies to fund a memorial gateway, the addition of the Voorhies Memorial in 1919 completed the northern end of Civic Center, firmly positioning the Bates triangle as an integral park space and requiring that Colfax Avenue be re-routed around the park.
Designed by noted Denver architects Fisher & Fisher, the Voorhies Memorial included murals by local artist Allen True, who would be commissioned in later years to paint murals in the State Capitol Rotunda and the Brown Palace’s lobby."