Downstream/Upstream Exhibit Opens at St. Paul Regional Water Services

Portion of Downstream/Upstream Exhibit at St. Paul Regional Water Services

DOWNSTREAM/ UPSTREAM
A Journey Through the Urban Water Cycle
Opened April 22, 2013 at McCarrons Room, St. Paul Regional Water Services (SPRWS).

 

It is particularly rewarding to have Downstream/ Upstream exhibited at SPRWS, since the organization and its representatives played a key role in the project. Jim Bode, Water Quality Supervisor, and Justine Roe of SPRWS led tour groups of the pre-schoolers and kindergarteners at the water treatment plant.

 

The exhibit is in the McCarrons Room which is a gathering point for tours and features views into some of the water treatment areas. 

 

Call Jodi Wallin, public information officer for SPRWS for Tour Availability 651-266-6308

 

 

  

Downstream/Upstream Exhibition and Reception at Institute on the Environment

Exhibit

Downstream/Upstream: A Journey Through the Urban Water Cycle
December 21, 2012 – February 8, 2013

Commons Gallery Opening Presentation and Reception
Wednesday, February 6, 2013, 12:00-1:30 pm
Institute on the Environment’s Commons Gallery, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota. Parking, address, and map:    Institute on the Environment Website  

Link to Notice          

 Flyer

Exhibit Announcement: Downstream Upstream: A Journey Through the Urban Water Cycle, May 12 - July 12, 2012 (Extended to August 8, 2012)

The Downstream/Upstream project will be featured at an exhibit at the University of Minnesota Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library in Rapson Hall from May 12 - July 12, 2012 (Extended to August 8, 2012). Summer hours are Monday - Friday 9:00am - 4:30pm.
For parking, address, and map visit the Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library Website
From the Exhibit Notice:
"Downstream/Upstream: A Journey Through the Urban Water Cycle documents a two-week journey that 39 kids, ages 4-6, took to explore the infrastructure of water. On exhibit are the photographs, artists' books, maps, and diagrams that illustrate their exploration of the urban water cycle starting from a classroom sink to the Mississippi River — upstream and downstream. Jonee Kulman Brigham led a structured and creative collaborative project that allowed children to explore cultural narratives and issues of sustainability related to the flow of water."

Downstream/Upstream Poster at Student Sustainability Symposium

The first ever University of Minnesota Student Sustainability Symposium was held October 26, 2011, at the Institute on the Environment. Students across colleges presented posters on their research related to sustainability and networked together. Downstream/Upstream was included in a poster I presented called "Art, Story, and Infrastructure: A Model for Experiential Interconnection in Environmental Education." The poster can be downloaded from the University of Minnesota's Digital Conservancy at this link.

Kids, Cameras, Stories!

One of the activities in the Downstream/Upstream project is to get kids to retell the story of their water journey using their own words and pictures. Each child will create a water story book of their explorations and trips on the learning module in parks, at manholes, on the river boat ride... The idea is to use kid-friendly cameras, story prompting, and drawing/coloring to draw out what each child found interesting at each location.

In addition to each child’s book, a map-based community book, from the whole classroom will be created. The beginning of this book, called Downstream/Upstream Mapstories, was presented at the Living Green Expo Art Exhibit May 7-8. As illustrated below, the community book is a wall map made of “tiles.” Each tile is an area of the city, whose cover can be lifted up to reveal more about that place. A few starting images were shown at the Art Exhibit to give the idea, but once the project is complete, the children’s images will create thicker books beneath the path of their water journey. In addition to recording stories, the wall map will be used to chart the journey and share it with the parents and other classes.

Depending on funding, the cameras from this project will become part of a nature appreciation class kit for a nature center or similar program.

Downstream/Upstream Mapstories will be previewed at the Living Green Expo Art Exhibit

Exhibit Card (click to enlarge)

Downstream/Upstream Mapstories is an interactive wall map that explores the stories hidden within land and its representations that the Downstream/Upstream project will  uncover. The content of the stories will grow and evolve as the project progresses.

This 10th anniversary of the art exhibit at the Living Green Expo is called “Art as Gateway to Community Engagement: Sustaining Nature and Culture.” Curated by Roslye B. Ultan, this show features over 50 artists and will take place May 7-8 at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds Fine Arts Building. For more information go to: http://www.livinggreenexpo.mn/expo-highlights/art-exhibition