5 more small Indiana towns to host Smithsonian exhibit

Indiana Humanities providing resources to help residents explore their communities’ relationships with water

Indiana Humanities has selected five additional small communities across the state to host Water/Ways, a Smithsonian-curated traveling exhibit that explores water as an essential component to life on our planet, environmentally, culturally and historically.

Water/Ways was set to end its six-stop Indiana tour in April, but Indiana Humanities and the Smithsonian Institution decided to extend its run to five more communities with populations of 15,000 or fewer.

The five new hosting organizations, communities and dates for the exhibit are:

• Cedar Lake Historical Association (Cedar Lake), April 15-May 22
• Carnegie Public Library of Steuben County (Angola), May 28-July 17
• Culver Union Township Public Library (Culver), July 23-Sept. 4
• Switzerland County Tourism Office (Vevay), Sept. 10-Oct. 23
• Benton County Soil & Water Conservation / Otterbein Public Library (Benton Co.), Oct. 29-Dec. 11

Water/Ways is an interactive exhibit that dives into the roles bodies of water play as cultural and physical borders and as connectors and highways, how we harness water’s power at home and at work, and the impact humans have on the water around them.

Like those before them, the new host sites will receive extensive training and funding to help tell their communities’ watershed stories. In addition, each community is being given $1,800 in project funds to host public programs around the themes of the exhibition and to create an exhibit that explores its unique water story.

Communities that previously hosted Water/Ways are Centerville, Madison, New Harmony, North Webster, Rolling Prairie and West Terre Haute.

“It’s been exciting to see how communities have come together to interpret the exhibition in a way that resonates for each location,” said Keira Amstutz, president and CEO of Indiana Humanities. “From water-related art shows and kids’ activities to a digital essay and guest speakers on Native American culture and water quality, the variety of programming we’ve seen has helped reveal our connections to water and the role it plays in our lives.”

Water/Ways is part of the Museum on Main Street program, a division of the Smithsonian that brings high-quality exhibits and resources to rural communities.

The opportunity to host Water/Ways was open to any tax-exempt organization in Indiana, including museums, libraries, civic organizations, local governments or schools. Host organizations for this particular program must be located in towns of 15,000 or fewer residents. Indiana Humanities is sponsoring the tour of this exhibit in conjunction with Unearthed, a multiyear thematic initiative that encourages Hoosiers to discover and discuss their relationships with the natural world.