The Winthrop Rockefeller Institute - University of Arkansas System

River Rock Water Feature

While sitting on the outdoor patio or looking out the windows of the restaurant, guests can see how River Rock Grill got its name. The River Rock water feature is a 310-foot representation of how the Arkansas River and its tributary, the Petit Jean River, flow around Petit Jean Mountain. Architect Liz Frazier developed the design and described it this way: 

 

“The Petit Jean plateau rises up from the Arkansas River valley. For eons the Arkansas River and its tributary the Petit Jean River have borrowed and given land to the delta below while carving and sculpting the majesty of Petit Jean Mountain – the mountain Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller loved so well.

“The focus of the design of the River Rock water feature is a representation of the Petit Jean River and its journey into the Arkansas River.

“It seemed fitting to create a space that paid tribute to the river, its mountain and its unintended symbolism. After the waters flow under the road and seemingly end at a river bend, the flow symbolically continues as a meandering walkway into a better future for the State of Arkansas.”