The project will identify existing springs and create 3 water fountains through artists intervention to facilitate access to clean water in case of emergency and/or natural disaster in Puerto Rico and raise consciousness about water protection access and importance. One visual artist and one creative writer will be paired to intervene in 3 existing springs in the Puerto Rican mountain range of Adjuntas , which is 15 minutes away from the epicenter of last January 2020 earthquakes.
200,000 Puerto Rican in remote mountain towns lack water access is at the center of the dilemma. Even though there is no shortage of water in the island, Puerto Rican people went 1-4 months without drinkable water after Hurricane Maria and 1-3 weeks after the earthquakes. This is the main cause why, every time we face a hurricane or an earthquake, health and social issues arise around the issue of lack of water.
Independent citizens and engaged artists have been using social media to mobilize Puerto Rican people to demand government transparency. Art has an important social impact in the island, gaining the trust that politicians have lost. Therefore,"Manantial" Project for Water Conservation will engage 5-8artists, arquitects, ecologist and community leaders to create 3 "spring fountains", and an app to popularize their location and engage community in the protection and use of the sources.
The project will educate 150 students and 25 teachers and community leaders about water conservation, water harvesting, arts and resilience to create a habit of water protection. They will engage in the creation, mapping of springs while they participate in tasks such as path clearing, water filtering and construction of the water fountains mentored by Puerto Rican visual artists, ecologists, arquitects . We will also collect the story of the process and share it in our app.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
