Liberal Arts sat on the south front of the walled city immediately west of the Tower of Jewels, which divided it from Manufactures. Condensed Facts placed it 'directly opposite the main entrance to the Exposition grounds from the city side.' On its west was the Court of Palms, and its northeast corner formed part of the Court of the Universe.
Its classification was the widest-ranging of the palaces: typography and printing, books and maps, papermaking, photography, musical instruments, instruments of precision, medicine and surgery, theatrical equipment, electrical communication, civil and military engineering, and architecture. The Guide estimated about half the space went to American exhibitors and half to foreign ones. The United States government's section alone took 55,000 sq ft, nearly a quarter of the building (Todd). China's exhibit, with its astronomical instruments, covered thousands of square feet.
This was also where visitors met long-distance telephony as a spectacle: Todd's history pictures a 'Transcontinental Telephone Theater' among the Liberal Arts exhibits, and the department had its own special day, recounted in his third volume. A modest detail recorded by John Barry: three 'bear fountains' were set in the outer walls of Liberal Arts and Manufactures just north of the Tower of Jewels, colored pink, dark blue and light green.
At a glance
- Cost: $344,188 (Official Guide); $344,186 (Condensed Facts).
- General contractor: Reese & Rountree. During construction a parted hoisting line dropped an 'A' truss, which wrecked itself and another; damage was slight (Todd vol. 2).
- Declared ready for exhibits May 22, 1914 (Todd vol. 2).
- The U.S. government section occupied 55,000 sq ft (Todd vol. 4).
- Mahonri Young's 'Useful Arts' panel over the main south portal was flanked by niche figures, of which 12 copies were made (Todd vol. 2, ch. LXI).
Afterward
Wrecked by the exposition's forces in 1916 (Todd vol. 5); now part of the residential Marina District.
Where it stood
Palace of Liberal Arts stood at about 37.80238 N, 122.44381 W on today's map. The whole fairground over the city →
Sources
- Official Guide of the PPIE (1915), The Palace of Liberal Arts
- Condensed Facts concerning the PPIE (1915), Palace of Liberal Arts
- Todd, The Story of the Exposition, vol. 4, chs. XI–XVII (Liberal Arts)
- Todd, The Story of the Exposition, vol. 2, chs. IV, LVII, LXI
- Barry, The City of Domes (1915), Court of the Universe notes (bear fountains)