Gathering and Sharing Minnesota’s Water Stories, Equipping Local Storytellers.

Water Bar & Public Studio has partnered with the MuseWeb Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, Minnesota Humanities Center, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and local community partners across Minnesota, to facilitate a statewide storytelling network as part of MuseWeb’s Be Here: Main Street project.

Part of the MuseWeb Foundation’s larger Be Here initiative, Be Here: Main Street is partnership with the Smithsonian Institution and its Museum on Main Street program, which brings Smithsonian traveling exhibitions to small towns across the United States and its territories. The goals of Be Here: Main Street are not only to collect rich stories about America’s towns and waterways, but also to connect people, businesses, communities, and cultural institutions through storytelling.

The first story-collecting effort in this project will focus on water—America’s lakes, rivers, streams, etc. The theme coincides with the current Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibition Water/Ways, which is now on view in several states. The pilot program will be working with communities specifically in Minnesota and Alabama. 

Be Here: Main Street is a pilot project developed through a partnership between the MuseWeb Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street program. It is powered by izi.TRAVEL, a global and mobile storytelling platform.