Six bronze panels created by famed sculptor Ruth Asawa are expected to arrive in Santa Rosa by the end of the year, nearly a decade after they were pulled from a crumbling fountain in Old Courthouse Square. But as the panels near their long-awaited homecoming, city leaders still haven't settled where they will go, or whether the square's future includes a fountain, a permanent stage, or some combination of both.
The panels, part of Asawa's History of Sonoma County series, were first unveiled at a ceremony in February 1987 and removed from the square's fountain in 2016 as the city reunified the plaza, according to The Press Democrat. The bas-relief scenes, depicting agricultural, coastal and historical figures from the county, were originally modeled in bread dough before being molded in rubber and cast in concrete with help from students at Luther Burbank School, according to the City of Santa Rosa.
Those concrete originals didn't hold up. A 2023 report found that four panels detached from the fountain in 2016 had been kept at an East Bay fine art storage facility, and by 2021 city consultants discovered the stored panels had deteriorated, prompting officials to cast them in bronze instead, per the Press Democrat's earlier reporting. The city now says tiny fissures had put the concrete panels in danger of breaking. Santa Rosa's City Council approved $300,000 in PG&E settlement funds in 2021 to help fund the bronze recasting.
Bronze Casting Nears Completion
The city is working with Artworks Foundry to recast all nine panels in bronze, according to srcity.org, and six of the nine are now complete. City plans call for the six finished panels to arrive in Santa Rosa by the end of 2026, with delivery targeted for mid-December. The three remaining panels, known as the sea life panels, are larger than the six already finished, and Gabe Osburn has said the city wants community input on a final design before those larger pieces are cast.
The panels have been stored in the East Bay for roughly the last 10 years. While the city sorts out a permanent home, staff have explored temporary display options, including Old Courthouse Square itself, the downtown library, Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport, and Roseland Regional Library, according to the Press Democrat. A separate report from citizenportal.ai described a possible six-to-eight-month temporary placement while a committee and the public weigh permanent siting.
Fountain, Stage, or Both?
The bigger unresolved question is what Old Courthouse Square itself will look like. The square's reunification master plan included a fountain planned for Third Street, per the Press Democrat. But the master plan did not include a permanent stage, and the square has relied on temporary setups for its busy calendar of annual events.
That flexibility has a cost. More than 30 annual events had called for temporary structures, while a permanent stage remained a proposal, according to the Press Democrat's reporting. Gabe Osburn said about half of all square events place a large stage on the exact spot where a fountain is planned. Notable draws have included a Flock of Seagulls concert that reportedly pulled in 2,000 fans in 2025, and a Banda Maguey show that drew thousands of people to the square last summer.
Advocates for a permanent stage argue it could pull even more events and visitors downtown. Meredith Knudsen called the permanent-stage proposal a great opportunity at a subcommittee meeting earlier this year. But opinions among city leaders are split. Eddie Alvarez has said he favors combining a fountain and a stage, while Jeff Okrepkie has said he initially expects the final decision to come down to one or the other, not both.
Utilities, Drought, and a Legal Past Complicate the Picture
Utilities and Water Features Complicate the Picture Moving the fountain from its planned Third Street spot could require new or relocated utility lines, adding cost to whichever design the city ultimately chooses. The city has other water features, including the Fremont Park fountain and a water feature in Sonoma Avenue Park across from City Hall.
City staff are now developing a new public survey on proposed updates to Old Courthouse Square, and planning discussions have involved the economic development subcommittee, the Art and Public Places Committee and a community advisory board. The City Council is next expected to hold a study session on the square's future.
Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc., the artist's family organization, has signaled support for finding a lasting public home for the History of Sonoma County panels. In a letter to the city dated March 9, 2026, Vivian Tong wrote that the organization is open to alternative display options that ensure visibility, preservation and public connection, including integration into a stage design, according to the Press Democrat's reporting on the letter.
Asawa, who died in 2013, reportedly preferred bronze for the panels. Her public commissions include work in the Bay Area, and her work was featured in a major retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco and New York in 2025.
For now, Santa Rosa residents can follow the city's social media accounts and sign up for its City Connections newsletter for updates as officials weigh the square's next chapter.
