LWV ​UMRR Awarded an MRN Mini-Grant to Promote Clean Water

The LWV Upper Mississippi River Region ILO has received a $10,000 grant from the Mississippi River Network!  This grant will fund our proposal to travel the “Pure Sparkling Stream Water” Pop Art exhibit throughout our five-state region this coming year.  This exhibit is an Andy Warhol-inspired Pop Art project with a strong environmental message and call to action.  The project addresses the poor water quality problems that plague the entire Upper Mississippi River watershed.  

It is designed to ignite and spark conversations by using impactful, oversized 2D and 3D advertising graphics and labels on 16 oz aluminum cans that depict the water quality problems in our region by promoting a fictitious sparkling water company that bottles water directly from streams in the watershed.  The exhibit also showcases champion conservation farmers that show how better land management can be part of the solution to our dirty water issue. 
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The exhibit includes an inflated oversized pop can labeled as “Pure Iowa Sparkling Stream Water” to appear to be real and legitimate.  The back label includes a description of the stream, a reflection, and a list of “natural” ingredients telling a very different story … the many harmful contaminants that are commonly found in many of the waterways throughout the upper Midwest.  A red warning label further compounds conflicting advertising messages.  There are QR codes providing easy access to relevant links to scientific data, resources and references.  ​

Our plan is to travel this exhibit widely and to that end we need each local and state League in the UMRR watershed to identify suitable events, sites and dates to host the display.  The site needs to be indoor and have access to electricity.  Our first priority is to target primary League events within each state, especially state/local League meetings and events that will draw a crowd.  In addition to League events, the exhibit will participate in the 100th anniversary celebration of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge and the MRN 1 Mississippi annual summer Days on the River events.  We are also partnering with the Isaak Walton League to help identify other potential exhibit sites. 

Grant funding will support the transportation and/or shipping of the exhibit, local exhibit fees and the artist travel costs.   Suggestions for possible exhibit locations along with potential dates should be sent to Project Coordinator Mary Ellen Miller at [email protected]   515.783.6390.