Art Week Water Headliner
Water is the storms that rage and the silent blanket of snow.
Water is the shorelines and river banks that have hosted trade and travel, whether you’re an iron ore behemoth or a beaver with a freshly chewed log.
Water is the inspired flow, cleansing us of our troubles; or perhaps tossing us in the powerful turbulence as a reminder of our mortality.
What is water to you?
Water is a natural resource
The cycle of human use is inspired by nature. Bodies of water act as heat sinks and homes, spray from the waves evaporates into storm clouds who then gift the dry land with rain or snow. The thirsty earth happily drinks the sky’s offering and holds it close in the groundwater, sustaining vibrant ecosystems we humans generally refer to as “mucky”. Streams form, joining forces and follow one another into rivers to make their way back again to the vast bodies of water, and so the cycle begins again.
Water is a community resource
We swim in the shallows and cast lines out deep, we glide across the surface in kayaks and motor from one point to another. In Marquette many of our public parks have a shoreline.
That same stuff we recreate in flows through our taps and nourishes us and our homes. We’re lucky enough to take fresh water for granted. It cycles back out into our land, drained into the filter before released to be recreated in once more.
Water is essential to life.
60% of our body is water, it courses through our veins and fills our cells with a seemingly magic potion that smooths out the complicated workings of the human essence. It seeps out our pores as we stress our physical self. Without it our tongue feels unfamiliar in our own mouths, parched. All life requires water, what wonders the flora and fauna have invented to live in, around, and without a constant flow.
Water is our collective past, present, and future.
Cultures are diverse across times, nations, bloodlines, and traditions. Even in Marquette, our community hosts a tapestry of histories and futures. One unifying theme among them all though is the ever present, essential element of water. Our ancestors pulled fish from the depths and boiled water clean over heat. We laugh and play year round, cherishing it’s many forms. We’ll never not cleanse ourselves, indulging in a submersion that nourishes our mind, body, and soul.
Visit the Art Week homepage to see all of the exciting opportunities to engage with WATER at this year’s City of Marquette Art Week
