Communal Places and Neglected Spaces: Exploring Indiana’s Roadside Springs

Event Details

Roadside springs are sites where geography, history, and public health intersect. Join artist and folklorist Kay Westhues as she examines several historic springs in Indiana by sharing oral histories, photographs, and archival research. She explores why some springs still function as communal spaces for water gathering, while others have fallen out of our collective memory. In the process, she’ll address issues of water access and environmental justice.

Kay Westhues is interested in examining the ways in which rural tradition and history are interpreted and transformed in the present day. Her research interests include environmentalism and water rights, the public commons, oral history, and the cultural significance of place. Kay received her M.A. in Folk Studies from Western Kentucky University and teaches at the Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts at Indiana University South Bend and the University of Saint Francis.

This event was made possible by a grant from Indiana Humanities.