Community at the Hands of Water
Oil paint on Canvas
Lauren Muth, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
In collaboration with Guolong Liang, Outreach Specialist, University of Wisconsin Madison-Extension
Community at the Hands of Water depicts a portion of the water cycle through muddied runoff as it finds its way to a man made grass waterway between a field of corn. This allows the water to seep through these roots and be cleaned rather than potentially contaminating wells, lakes, rivers, and the likes. When working together, Muth and Liang decided to capture the concept of community by how making a change such as implementing a grass waterway can allow for cleaner water in the hands of those in the community. Overall, it takes hearing each other out and communicating to build a relationship that wants to improve for the better of our environment and health.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Raised in the small town of Slinger, Wisconsin, Lauren Muth has always been interested in the shapes and organic qualities found in nature. As she got older her art leans more toward exploring psychology and narrative, but nature continues to be an active source of inspiration. Through her time at UW-Oshkosh, she is interested in finding opportunities to display her work and learn from what’s available to her as she grows as an artist. You can find more of her art on Instagram.
“Throughout this collaboration I found it incredibly rewarding to not only hear about the research and topics surrounding my partner’s work, but to work together and communicate on a message we wanted to share together.” –Muth
ABOUT THE Water Partner
Guolong Liang works as the agriculture water quality outreach specialist at UW-Madison Extension. Our program helps better understand the interaction between agriculture and water quality. Feel free to check out our program online and connect with your local outreach specialist to learn more about us and your local water! Also don’t hesitate to reach out to Guolong Liang personally at gliang6@wisc.edu.
“It was great collaborating with an artist. As science-heavy as my job gets, it really helped me to think about my line of work from a more abstract and light way. It allowed me to explore possible ideas and possibilities to work across disciplines and look for interesting ways to better reach our audience.”–Liang
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