Santa Fe Springs once had a vast pool of oil percolating beneath the surface, creating enough of the "black gold" to finance a wild boomtown. Before that, however, the indigenous Tongva people lived there to take advantage of the hot springs.

"Water is an important element of this piece because the city was founded because of the hot springs," said Micahel Davis, of his 1999 work, "Snake Basket Fountain."

Skilled weavers, the Tongva left several artifacts; a surviving piece inspired Davis' Byzantine and Venetian mosaic tile fountain.

The basket was a utensil the Tongva used to gather food, and a symbol Davis found intriguing: "The metaphor is that through food, we talk, we break bread; it's a very nurturing image," he said.

Davis has used water in his other artwork, but the fountain was the most elaborate he's done to date.

"Water has a certain dialog, certain characteristics," he said. "The water (in this piece) has a spiraling, frothy appearance, then disappears into a cauldron below. In a way it's a reverse of what was happening there historically."