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WATER: A cross-disciplinary exhibit exploring the significance, power & play of life's critical resource

August 1, 2018-June 30, 2019; Downtown Campus Library

Curator: Sally Deskins, MA, Exhibit Developer, WVU Libraries, sbdeskins@mail.wvu.edu

Interpretive Exhibit Curator: Megan Kruger, Environmental Education and Outreach Coordinator, West Virginia Research Institute

About: This collaborative, cross-disciplinary, multimedia exhibit examines the power, control, scarcity, abundance, play and impact of water in its various forms. Through interactive visual displays of scholarship, groundwork and art we examine this critical resource and its essential life-giving and life-taking qualities from floods, drought and contamination, to a source of life, beauty, adventure and recreational play. The exhibit ties together the various aspects of water to encourage a conscientious understanding of its support of industries and significance on all aspects of life through themes of Education, Impact, Ideas, Expression and Adventure. The curator and designer will work with the contributing exhibitors to cohesively tie the exhibit together throughout the space, including panels, resourceful installations and innovative displays on the main floor, up through the central staircase and into the Atrium, bridged by an Introduction and Conclusion.

Exhibitors from WVU: College of Law, Environmental Health and Safety, Reed College of Media, Statler College of Engineering, Water Research Institute, Department of English, Adventure WV, Institute of Water Security and Science, Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, Department of Geology and Geography, Division of Forestry and Natural Resources, College of Business and Economics.

Exhibitors from Community: Friends of Decker's Creek, West Virginia Watercolor Society.

Participation Opportunities: There are many opportunities for participation. Contact Sally Deskins, sbdeskins@mail.wvu.edu304.293.0369, for more information.

Thank you to our exhibit partners:

Adventure WV; Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design; West Virginia Land Trust; West Virginia Water Research Institute; Institute of Water Security and Science; West Virginia Humanities Council

Events in conjunction:

August 30, 4-5:30pm, Downtown Campus Library: Confluence: Multidisciplinary Approaches to Water, a panel discussion sponsored by the WV Humanities Council
September 7, 5-7pm, Downtown Campus Library: Faculty First Friday and Opening Reception
September 28, 4-6pm, Downtown Campus Library: Morgantown Art Crawl (activities TBA)
October 26, 1-4pm, Downtown Campus Library: Campus Art Crawl (activities TBA)
Spring semester, Downtown Campus Library: Women + Water exhibit and program

. . . and more to come!

Artwork by Christine Rhodes, Parkersburg, W.Va.
Signature member of the West Virginia Watercolor Society
Detail from "Off the Deep End" 2015

Among Christine's recent artistic accomplishments, she has a painting in the biennial West Virginia Juried Exhibition, now on display at the Art Museum of West Virginia University, and she also had a painting accepted at the 150th American Watercolor Society exhibition last spring at the Salmagundi Club in New York.

Water Exhibit Soundtrack

To complement your exhibit experience, listen to the sounds linked on our soundtrack page as you walk through the various themes listed below.

WVU Libraries Presents a Mini-Online Exhibit: Rivers

Please visit our online exhibit.