On a trip to Ethiopia in 2007, filmmaker Mary Jordan got sick. She had traveled to a remote village to shoot an ethnographic documentary and was struck with an illness that debilitated her and her filming process. Fortunately, caring and hospitable locals nursed Jordan back to health and in return asked her to make them a promise—one with global implications and of necessity and high priority.
The promise? Solve the global water crisis.
Daunting as the task may sound, Jordan was up for the challenge. When she arrived back in New York City, she gazed toward the sky and saw the solution peeking out amongst the city skyline: the 17,000 water towers scattered throughout Manhattan. As an artist, Jordan wanted to combine her passion for social justice and change with her love for creativity, so she launched her first non-profit organization Word Above the Street. The institute is essentially a larger version of Jordan herself, calling on artists to engage and educate the global community on environmental and social issues through public displays of creativity.
But Word Above the Street was just Jordan’s first step. In 2012 she began planning and funding the Water Tank Project, ready to keep the promise she made to the Ethiopian villagers five years before and inspired by the thousands of tanks that filled the NYC skyline. Her goal is to display Manhattan’s largest public art show by involving over a hundred established and upcoming artists to spread awareness about the global water crisis and teach New Yorkers—and the world—that it is indeed solvable.
As of now, there are over one billion people worldwide without clean water. Even for those who do have access, the water is so contaminated with silt that it’s actually more harmful than hydrating. Jordan’s mission is to communicate this urgent message to the people of New York who have virtually unlimited access to pure drinking water through the city’s water towers and to hopefully instill an appreciation for the clean water available locally and nationally.
On July 30, 2014—after two years of fundraising and preparation—the first NYC water tank was wrapped in a canvas designed by photographer and artist Laurie Simmons. The pilot exhibit can be seen clearly from 29th Street and 11th Avenue in Chelsea (just eight avenues away from Schottenstein—by the way). The canvas features one of Simmons’ famous prints titled Diving and pictures a life-size doll in a vibrant red dress plummeting headfirst into a bubbling, blue pool of water. The photograph is part of Simmons’ collection The Love Doll, a series of photographs that captures both life-size and miniature dolls engaged in realistic, human activities. Other notable contributors to the Water Tank Project include Bruce Weber, Jay-Z, and Marilyn Minter.
Another important aspect to Word Above the Street—and by extension, the Water Tank Project—is its use of technology to drive social action and motivate people to work to change the water crisis. The Water Tank Project utilizes the most popular social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, to update followers on the project’s progress and share humorous and educational quotes and images relating to the world’s water.
The collaborating artists that Jordan selected share her passion and excitement and have voiced their own eagerness to participate in the Water Tank Project. In Jordan’s Kickstarter video, collaborating artist Marilyn Minter explained, “I love public art…most of the time that I’ve done it, it’s been all aesthetic—but a reason behind it makes it all the more powerful. That’s the most powerful art you can make.” While other NYC public art shows have made their debut in the last year, such as the Art in the Park exhibit and Art Everywhere in Times Square, Jordan’s is unique for its global cause and educational message. It’s also the largest coordination of artists for a public exhibit among the aforementioned exhibits and utilizes the skyline in an unprecedented way.
While Jordan hasn’t released when the next tank will be covered in the next artful wrapping, she knows that her mission doesn’t end in New York. She hopes to travel across the country in order to educate students and inspire activists to bring the project to other cities across the United States. Her main message: Art to save water, water to save lives. Keep a lookout for the water tanks-turned-canvases popping up around NYC, and remember to be thankful that your water is clean and pure.