the performance
Through research, devising and development, six local folk immersed themselves in water issues and created this performance from their findings and rumination, infusing sound, poetry, movement and song.
April 21 and 22 at 7:00p and 8:30p
April 23 at 7:00p (Free Performance)
Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center
202 South Broadway
Urbana, IL 61801
Purchase tickets HERE – $12 online or at the door.
Meet the Ensemble!
Performers: Kate Insolia, Efadul Huq, Maddie Terlap, Madelyn Childress, Rosanne Brighton and Latrelle Bright
Sound Design: Yu-Yun Hsieh
Dramaturge: Katie Fenton
the journey to water
In the fall of 2009 I created a 10-minute piece called matter for Pre-Sent/Pres-ent, a collaborative effort between Voices of the South and Project Motion in Memphis, TN. It was a holiday show and the theme that year was “Home for the Holidays.” As a military brat, home has been an ever-shifting place for me so I chose to focus on the one consistent home – earth. While creating that piece, I did not have to look much further than my own bookshelf for inspiration and reference. I had been interested in environmental issues for a long time. The piece
grew to a 45-minute experience that I honed over time and last performed in the spring of 2014.
In the summer of 2014, I attended a Water Summit that was held to bring widespread attention to Clinton Landfill’s practice of disposing of chemical waste too near the aquifer. The Mahomet Aquifer serves as the main potable water source for east-central Illinois. After a great deal of pressure, former Governor Pat Quinn placed a moratorium on the Clinton Landfill practice.
In that same summer I had the opportunity to design and facilitate an arts-based civic dialogue workshop called Environment Matters as part of the Pop-Up Art summer series at Figure One Art Gallery. Over the course of four days 
the focus shifted from earth to air to fire to water. I got stuck on water. Since then I have been in “light” research mode about this element essential to all life. Readings range from the deeply political to the deeply scientific. At either end, the word precious emerges. Its standard definition ringing true: (of an object, substance, or resource) of great value; not to be wasted or treated carelessly.
the process
Phase I: Research & Play – September through November
Phase II: Devising & Development – January through March
Phase III: Rehearsal & Performance – March through April and May
the funding
Finding myself existing as a freelance artist once again, I had the time and space to develop an idea and request support. I 
received funding from The Puffin Foundation, Ltd. and have launched a Fractured Atlas fundraising campaign to help round out the financial edges for this project. The Puffin Foundation continues to “make grants that encourage emerging artists whose works might have difficulty being aired due to their genre and/or social philosophy.” This project is also funded in part by the City of Urbana Arts Grant, supporting artists in the Urbana-Champaign community since 2008. This is a “sponsored project” for which tax deductible donations are possible through Fractured Atlas. For nearly 20 years, Fractured Atlas has been an empowering force for artists.
The Water Project will consist of a new performance piece examining our relationship with water: water that is at once a necessary resource for all living things, a convenient dumping ground for waste and a commodity to be bought and sold.
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