Published: 3/31/2016
An idea that started as a novelty, pop-up art project is now turning into a real business. Downtown Minneapolis will soon be home to a local bar that isn’t serving up spirits, but local tap water. Created by artists Shanai Matteson and Colin Kloecker of Works Progress Studio, the water bar is meant to increase awareness regarding water scarcity and environmental concerns relating to water. The owners are hoping that serving local tap water will spark conversations on the crucial topic around the country. [1]
Simply called “Water Bar”, the former art project has already served various local tap waters to over 30,000 people in Minnesota, Arkansas, Illinois and North Carolina. This spring the Water Bar will be opening a permanent location combined with an art studio in northeastern Minneapolis. [1]
In an interview with Matteson, he said, “The most important thing is that we’re actually combining the Water Bar with a public studio, which we’re thinking of as an art sustainability studio and incubator, intended to build local projects with other artists and designers, all about water and environmental sustainability at the local level.”[1]
The purpose of the Water Bar is to get people to think about water differently and raise awareness of water quality issues effecting Americans in cities that are thought to have abundant clean water sources. The bar’s website says, “Water Bar is an itinerant open space for the generation of conversations and connections around the life-sustaining, precarious, communal activity of drinking tap water.”[1]
[1] Uria, Daniel. Minnesota to open world’s first water bar. UPI. http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2016/03/08/Minnesota-to-open-worlds-first-water-bar/8611457457025/