We Are Water MN Exhibit Will Visit Roseau
The exhibit Opens at Roseau County Museum on August 17
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3, 2023 – St. Paul, Minn. – The Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC) and Roseau County Museum are pleased to announce that the traveling exhibition—We Are Water MN—will open at the Roseau County Museum on August 17, 2023. The We Are Water MN Opening Reception will be held in the museum from 5-7 pm this day. We Are Water MN is a project of the Humanities Center that engages Minnesotans with our state’s most important natural resource through personal stories, historical context, and scientific information. We Are Water MN will be on display from August 17 through October 9, 2023
“Bringing people together around an issue they care about is how the humanities can be put into action. When Minnesotans learn from each other about the water where we live, we can make decisions that account for the complexity of our world.” says Kevin Lindsey, CEO of Minnesota Humanities Center.
The following additional partners will host the We Are Water MN traveling exhibit in their communities:
March 2-April 24, 2023: Sherburne SWCD (Sherburne County)
April 27-June 19, 2023: Happy Dancing Turtle (Pine River)
June 22-August 14, 2023: Somali Museum (Twin Cities)
August 17-October 9, 2023: Roseau County Museum (Roseau)
October 12-December 4, 2023: Stillwater Public Library/ArtReach St. Croix (Stillwater)
These host partners will collaboratively design local events and public programming that connect people to issues surrounding water in their communities. In co-creating with community members and organizations who are working on water issues, MHC is expanding the local and state network of stakeholders at multiple levels within Minnesota to support citizen initiatives and create a shared vision around water in Minnesota.
Visitors to the We Are Water MN exhibit learn about water issues statewide and in their community. They also reflect on local stories and the meaning and experiences of water in Minnesota, with space to add their own stories. Combining learning and sharing in this way strengthens Minnesotans’ relationships with water and increases participation in water stewardship activities.
“The We Are Water program [is] an important catalyst for our community to build relationships around water… The WAW program invited us into a conversation that asked, “Whose voices needed to be amplified in our community…” Strong themes emerged during our experience: Strengthen friendships. Build new relationships. Grow our regional water ethic through action and experimentation…” -Troy Goodnough, Sustainability Director, University of Minnesota Morris, a former We Are Water Host.
Since We Are Water MN began touring in 2016, more than 2,300 stories about water have been collected. More than 400 high-quality audio stories are available via the project’s Story Map. Water stories are a way for visitors to share personal experiences while learning about their neighbors’ relationships with water. The range of experiences – from water as a daily part of visitors’ lives to personal stories of family, ritual, joy, and loss – along with educational materials compel people to evaluate their relationship with water and engage more deeply in conservation.
MHC’s We Are Water MN project partners are the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, the Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS), the Minnesota Departments of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources, and the University of Minnesota Extension Water Resources Center. These partners connect host communities to resources and information, learn from host communities, and provide opportunities for host communities to learn from and with each other.
We Are Water MN is funded in part by money from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the Clean Water Fund, which was created with the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.
About the Minnesota Humanities Center
The Humanities Center connects our past, present, and future by bringing people together to increase understanding and spark change. Using story as a catalyst and the humanities to explore what it means to be human, MHC seeks to create a just society that is curious, connected, and compassionate society. MHC, founded in 1971, is a statewide nonprofit organization affiliated with and supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities. MHC operates a full-service Event Center in a historic St. Paul’s East Side building. More information is available at mnhum.org.
