Tulsans Francisco Rodríguez and Laura Pérez finally have a piece of their home state in their backyard with the installation of la Caja de Agua, a fountain created in San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
La Caja de Agua, translated to “water box,” was unveiled Sunday at the Tulsa Botanic Garden after years in the making. Rodríguez and Pérez have visited the original water fountains in their home country and even have a small replica in their Tulsa home.
“When we heard the replica was coming, we were filled with emotion,” Pérez said in Spanish. “I told my husband, ‘We don’t go to San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí comes to you.’”
The couple won’t be the only ones who can connect to Mexico as the fountain is open for public viewing. The Tulsa Botanic Garden announced it will also offer free admission Oct. 24-26 to celebrate the installation.
Tulsa’s sister city of San Luis Potosí first gifted the rare fountain to the City of Tulsa in 2012.
Tulsa Global Alliance, an organization overseeing Tulsa’s nine sister cities, has worked with city officials and the garden, to bring the fountain to life. The water fountain sat in a shed at the garden for years because of lack of funding.
“I’ve joked, but truly, it turns out navigating a public-private international construction project is quite the undertaking,” said Micah Keyan, executive director of Tulsa Global Alliance. “I don’t think any of us realized.”
The gift signifies the longstanding friendship between both cities, which formed an alliance in 1980. The partnership has facilitated student exchange programs between the two cities, connected firefighters in Mexico with the Tulsa Fire Department and more.
Daniel Chaboya, co-founder of Tulsa Intercultural Association, an organization focused on intercultural exchange, has helped the Tulsa Global Alliance rebuild their K-12 student exchange program.
The installation, Chaboya said, honors Tulsa’s growing Spanish-speaking population, especially the foundational base of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans who settled here in the early days.
“We are brothers and sisters,” Chaboya said of Americans and Mexicans. “Unfortunately, right now, there’s that idea that we’re enemies, and we’re in competition and in conflict, but that’s really far from the actual situation here in the community.”
Rodríguez, Pérez’s husband, is very proud of the fountain that represents his home state. He hopes the fountain connects Tulsans to his home country and helps them understand the culture beyond what they may see online.
“I would very much like for people here to know San Luis, because people sometimes have a wrong concept for Mexico,” Rodriguez said in Spanish. “…Mexico is very beautiful and has a lot of culture.”
In August, after more than a decade of delays, Tulsa City Council voted to allocate $110,000 in unused federal COVID-19 relief dollars to support the installation of the fountain.
The fountain, which spans 8 feet high and 12 feet wide, is made of pink quarry stone and sits near the pond at the center of the garden. Plants native to Mexico have been placed near it.
“May this fountain serve for generations as a place of reflection, learning and connection, and as a reminder of the friendship between our two great cities,” Tulsa Deputy Mayor Krystal Reyes said during the ribbon cutting ceremony.
Those who want to attend the free admission days are encouraged to reserve tickets online. The Tulsa Botanic Garden is located at 3900 Tulsa Botanic Drive in far northwest Tulsa.
This article was produced as part of a partnership between the Tulsa Flyer and La Semana, a Tulsa-based bilingual Spanish-English newspaper serving Latino communities in Oklahoma.
News decisions at the Tulsa Flyer are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
Lea este artículo en español aquí.
