Vaillancourt Fountain (Armand Vaillancourt)

The Vaillancourt Fountain is a large concrete and water sculpture by Quebec artist Armand Vaillancourt installed in Justin Herman Plaza on the Embarcadero in 1971. The work is notable for its raw concrete forms, exposed rebar and multiple water jets; its modernist aesthetic and politically charged inscriptions provoked public controversy and protests at the time of installation. The fountain remains a prominent example of mid-20th-century public sculpture in San Francisco's waterfront plaza.