The “Promise of Youth” by sculptor Alonzo Hauser is a bronze fountain depicting a nude woman in a lily flower. It was commissioned in 1952 and installed in 1958 in the reflecting pool at the Veteran’s Services Building in St. Paul, directly across from the Minnesota State Capitol.

The fountain has been the subject of controversy and mechanical problems. The initial controversy erupted over the sculpture’s nudity, but the fountain also never functioned as intended and the larger context for the sculpture was never completed. The lily leaves were supposed to mechanically open and close and the sculpture was supposed to be part of a wider artistic display, including a never-realized sculptural panel that the figure is looking up at.

The Women’s Institute of St. Paul donated “The Source”, created by artist Alonzo Hauser in 1965. The sculpture and fountain are the centerpiece of Rice Park in downtown St. Paul.