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The Fountains of Bellagio is a Las Vegas icon. For the past 12 years, tourists have stopped to gaze at the engineering marvel as they stroll down the Strip. Set to music, water shoots as high as 460 feet above an 8-acre lake.
The man behind that Las Vegas hot spot was inducted into the Highland High School Hall of Fame last week.
Mark Fuller, Class of 1969, has designed more than 200 cutting-edge fountains throughout the world. The CEO of Los Angeles-based WET (Water Entertainment Technologies), Fuller returned to Salt Lake City to be honored at his alma mater, where he says he was "such a nerd."
"It feels pretty amazing," said Fuller of joining fellow Rams Terry Tempest Williams, Peter Breinholt, Jon Schmidt and others in Highland's Hall of Fame.
Said proud mother Faye Fuller: "I said to him, 'If you could've flashed forward, would you dream that you would be coming here for this?' "
In a short speech, Fuller told students, "Find your passion in life. Find what really turns you on."
Fuller certainly found his.
It began at the University of Utah where Fuller developed a laminar-flow nozzle for his undergraduate thesis. The innovation allows water to flow in an arc.
"You see them all over now because they're kind of copied," said Fuller, "but we did the first one."
After earning a civil engineering degree, he got a master's from Stanford. He was hired by Disney, and designed the Leapfrog Fountain at the Epcot Center, the first of its kind in the world.
Last year, a New Yorker story said Fuller "may be the closest thing the world has to a fountain genius." He has received the University of Utah Lifetime Achievement Award and many other accolades.
Reactions from spectators are Fuller's favorite part of his work. When he visits the Bellagio, he turns his back to the fountains, preferring to watch people's faces.
"That's the real payoff," said Fuller, describing his favorite moving water as the tears that flow down people's cheeks when they view his work.
The Fountains of Bellagio are Fuller's most famous.
"Steven Spielberg has called it the greatest piece of public entertainment on the planet," Fuller said.
Fuller's fifth-grade son, Harrison, plans to follow his dad's footsteps.
"I think I like either the Bellagio or The Mirage," said Harrison when asked to name his favorite fountain. "I like the Bellagio just because I just think it's a really great fountain overall, and I've always enjoyed seeing the water move to the music. I like the Mirage because of the fire. I've always thought it was fascinating how my dad got the fire to go and do what the water kind of used to do, kind of jump up and down."
Fuller's fountains are currently spraying water and mesmerizing onlookers in Dubai, Tokyo, New York City, Dallas, Australia and elsewhere. Closer to home, he designed The Gateway's fountains.
More of his work will be visible in Salt Lake City next year when the City Creek Center opens. The shopping center will be home to three WET fountains, which will feature both water and fire.
"I think of myself as a sculptor or master of the elements," said Fuller, who harnesses water, fire, wind and sound in his creations.
Smiling, Fuller said the water at the City Creek fountains will "look like it's on fire." But he didn't want to reveal too much, fearing he would spoil the surprise.
Fab fountain
O To see footage of Mark Fuller's Dubai Fountain, visit http://bit.ly/9na8QL.