October 2020 - May 2021
Sweet Water Foundation welcomes you to well · ness at The Commonwealth, the inaugural exhibition in the Thought Barn. well · ness at The Commonwealth is a catalytic assemblage of art, artifacts, and history that explores the many facets and dimensions of water as the source of all life. This ‘living’ installation features an emergent and participatory research opportunity that will engage a diverse range of global citizens of all walks of life to critically examine the precarity of this precious life source and establish a collective accountability framework.
Read more about the exhibit and take the virtual tour below. For the health and safety of the SWF community and guests, we are no longer accepting reservations for in-person visits.
Sweet Water Foundation welcomes you to well · ness at The Commonwealth, the inaugural exhibition in the Thought Barn. well · ness at The Commonwealth is a catalytic assemblage of art, artifacts, and history that explores the many facets and dimensions of water as the source of all life. This ‘living’ installation features an emergent and participatory research opportunity that will engage a diverse range of global citizens of all walks of life to critically examine the precarity of this precious life source and establish a collective accountability framework.
At the center of the exhibit lies Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle’s Well 41°47’25”N - 87°37’38”W, which invites us to reconsider the reliability of our water access and the ways modern infrastructure disconnects us from resources. well · ness at The Commonwealth is, most importantly, rooted in place and practice. It is embedded within a neighborhood grappling with the most dramatic effects of the content displayed and juxtaposed with an active practice of practitioners engaged in solution-seeking and new ways-making.
For this show, Sweet Water Foundation’s Thought Barn, has been divided into four quadrants that examine: 1) Water Value, 2) Watershed & Infrastructure, 3) Well, and 4) Future Visions.
HOW TO VISIT THE SHOW:
In-Person Tours | Unfortunately, we are no longer accepting in-person tour reservations.
CONTRIBUTORS:
Sweet Water Foundation, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, Smart Museum of Art, and the Water Lab.
This exhibition is an initiative of Toward Common Cause. Toward Common Cause: Art, Social Change, and the MacArthur Fellows Program at 40 is organized by the Smart Museum of Art in collaboration with exhibition, programmatic, and research partners across Chicago in 2021. It is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Additional support for Well is provided through a Mellon Collaborative Fellowship in Arts Practice and Scholarship at the Richard and Mary L. Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry at the University of Chicago.
SUPPORTERS:
