Skip to main content
We will be closed July 4-8 Details
Close
close

Springboard for the Arts' strategic vision holds that artists are essential, that we need vibrant and just local economies, and that we get there through human-centered systems. As stewards of our properties, we seek to create and support environmentally healthy and community relevant spaces to support these goals.

Beginning in 2021, Springboard has partnered with the Capital Region Watershed District on a variety of artist-led public projects centered on water, conservation, and land stewardship. Current projects include:

Springboard Staff

Community Development Director

Community Organizer

Site Manager

A graphic illustration with a solid teal background. In the middle of the graphic is the shape of Minnesota in white, and a large teal water droplet inside of it.Adopt-A-Drain is a program aimed at protecting area lakes, rivers, and wetlands. Residents in the seven-county metro area and Rochester are invited to “adopt” a storm drain by committing to keep it clear of leaves, trash, and other debris. The simple act of sweeping up around a storm drain protects local lakes and rivers by preventing pollution from entering our shared waterways.

Learn more

What's in a Watershed? Connection, Responsibilities and Opportunities for Change is a multi-page zine by Sophie Wang that illustrates what a watershed is, its importance, and what we can do to promote and maintain watershed health. Physical copies of the zine are also available at Springboard offices.

Download the Zine

In response to the phrase "water protector", artists Sam Williams and Jesus Ramirez created a set of three unique sticker designs. The stickers can be found at Springboard for the Arts public events, and throughout our building in St. Paul.

A graphic with a white background and hand drawn black circles and lines
A graphic with a white background and hand drawn black circles and lines
A graphic with a white background and hand drawn black circles and lines
Fall Fest Slide 1

Seed paper painting and installation at Fall Fest 2023

As part of artist-led activities at the 2024 Fall Fest at Springboard in Saint Paul, artists Anna Haglin, Sophie Wang, and Sam Williams created an interactive installation using seed paper and handcrafted paints to explore and share the essential nature of water.

6U1A5277
AH2A7178
springboard_arts_fall_fest_2023_11
6U1A5166
AH2A7007
Refraction Slide 1

Refraction (2021) is a creative signage system and art installation led by Ua Si Creative to highlight Springboard’s rainwater harvesting system, including rain cistern and rain garden.

Created by Ua Si Creative, featuring artists Aleksandra Gurneau (Stockbridge Munsee Ojibwe), Chue Zeng Yang, Louis Alemayehu, Narate Keys, Sharon M. Day (Ojibwe)

Refraction Slide 2

Inspired by the movement of water, light, and water’s cultural significance, Refraction consists of four elements including three installations at the Springboard site and an experiential film documenting a ceremonial water walk. All of the installations follow the path of rainwater as it collects and flows through Springboard’s rainwater harvesting system. The water walk and its documentation immerses audiences to connect to local Native ways of holding sacred land, water, and our roles as relatives.

cistern-1
Water Walk Event and Film
Water Walk Event and Film

On June 13, 2021, Sharon M. Day (Ojibwe) led a Nibi (water) walk ceremony to foster intercultural community learning. With her guidance, Ua Si coordinated the 1.6 mile path from the Mississippi River to Springboard.

This gathering invited participants to more deeply understand the connections of water to the local landscape, cultural significance, and environmental justice through a Native perspective. As part of this ceremony, Sharon asked Ua Si if there was a community elder we wished to invite to share a few words. Ua Si invited Ananya Chatterjea and Laichee Yang of Ananya Dance Theater to share a few movements as part of this ceremony. Ua Si closed the ceremony with a khi tes (Hmong)/baci (Lao), a string tying blessing, amongst the walkers and participants that day.

The journey was documented as an experiential video to make this more accessible and for public health precautions due to COVID-19. It features poetry performances and interviews with Louis Alemayehu (African, Native American & Irish heritage), Narate Keys (Khmer), and Sharon M. Day (Ojibwe) where they each talk about their own cultural significance of water. Click on the video link to experience the water walk and reflect on your relationship and ancestral connections to water.

Water Walk 1
previous arrow
next arrow

On June 13, 2021, Sharon M. Day (Ojibwe) led a Nibi (water) walk ceremony to foster intercultural community learning. With her guidance, Ua Si coordinated the 1.6 mile path from the Mississippi River to Springboard.

This gathering invited participants to more deeply understand the connections of water to the local landscape, cultural significance, and environmental justice through a Native perspective. As part of this ceremony, Sharon asked Ua Si if there was a community elder we wished to invite to share a few words. Ua Si invited Ananya Chatterjea and Laichee Yang of Ananya Dance Theater to share a few movements as part of this ceremony. Ua Si closed the ceremony with a khi tes (Hmong)/baci (Lao), a string tying blessing, amongst the walkers and participants that day.

The journey was documented as an experiential video to make this more accessible and for public health precautions due to COVID-19. It features poetry performances and interviews with Louis Alemayehu (African, Native American & Irish heritage), Narate Keys (Khmer), and Sharon M. Day (Ojibwe) where they each talk about their own cultural significance of water. Click on the video link to experience the water walk and reflect on your relationship and ancestral connections to water.

Didactic Signage:  

Two signs, one located in front of the cistern and another in the rain garden, provide educational information on the rainwater harvesting system. The signs also include poems by Louis Alemayehu and Sharon M. Day. Through the signage Ua Si hopes that the public deepens their understanding and connection between water, the water harvesting system/local landscape, and its environmental justice significance through Black, Native and Southeast Asian cultural and ancestral reflections.

Watch the whole water walk with Sharon M. Day

Water from Motherland

By Narate Keys

Crave stone flowing through
Like Tolay Sap River
It’s the heart beat of the Kingdom of Khmer

Cradle to candles of the wind
It flow north as it pump out the sin
Like the breath we take in

For the indigenous people who brave
Bare the fruits and labor the reservoir
Lost its power to the dam

Shut down the power
Or shut down the vein
That beaten the heart

For the people
For the jungle
For home of the creatures.
Water from Motherland.

Power of the Pause

By Narate Keys

Mother to be cross three oceans
Bare to the siren
Birth of a burden
Asking our ancestors to bare our sin.

Daughters are in search of meaning
Leaving green grasses on the other side
WIDENING
Asking our ancestors to pour joy in.

Sons brave the soul of a guild
Hiding out to the lost being
Mother to the rescue
Single but serendipity braved.

Power of the pause
Cause of chaos
Change in theory
Creative in the consciousness.

More about the Projects

These projects were made possible with the generous support from and the Capitol Region Watershed District.