This painting is of the Old Well from the campus of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Old Well is the traditional visual symbol of the University. The first state university in the county, UNC-Chapel Hill opened its doors to students in 1795. For a number of years, the Old Well served as the single source of water for the two dorm dormitories on either side, Old East and Old West. University president Edwin A. Alderman initiated the reconstruction of the Old Well in 1954, modeling it after the Temple of Love in the Garden of Versailles.

The image is a close shot of the Old Well taken from a magazine. The subject takes up the majority of the canvas. The perspective of the bricks and the buildings in the background show the closeness of the subject and allow the audience to get a closes up view as well. There are few distractions in the surrounding environment that take the eye away from the subject, leaving the audience to focus almost solely on the Old Well.