On Wednesday March 13, 2013, at Bumble & Bumble, Valeria Mogilevich and Christine Gaspar of the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) presented recent community projects around the question Where does the water go? at the AIGA/NY Not Watered Down: A Screening & Discussion with CUP event. Glen Cummings of MTWTF introduced the event.

Working at the intersection of design, community organizing, and investigative journalism, CUP is a non-profit organization that uses visual communication to help increase civic engagement. By collaborating with a variety of groups, CUP works to help inform stakeholders about issues that arise as the city grows and develops. The youth education aspect of their work involves partnerships with local high schools, during which a class takes on a question about the way the city works and investigates, documents, and shares their newfound knowledge to outside audiences.

To lead each of these urban investigations, CUP hires and trains a “teacher artist,” usually an artist or designer that sees collaboration within the community as an influential part of their own practice. Though CUP has been honing their process for years, each project uncovers new insights for their ever-evolving methodology. Much of the foundation is modeled off of community organizing. For example, it’s essential that the students (or community members) are the ones leading the investigation. CUP Program Director, Valeria Mogilevich, quoted the 90′s organizing motto — “nothing about us without us.”

The video screened at the event, “The Water Underground, was a production that grew out of one such youth education project. City-as-School students posed the question, “what happens when you flush the toilet?” — or where does the city’s water come from, and where does it go when we’re done using it? The half hour documentary that resulted was informative as it was uniquely charming in its use of humor. What could easily have been a string of dry interviews was embellished with stop-motion animations, illustration, clever motion design, and a tongue-in-cheek soundtrack pulled together with voice-over narrative.

The video featured a variety of perspectives, including officials from the DEP (Department of Environmental Protection), representatives from the wastewater treatment plants, and community organizers who have questions about the placement of those treatment plants in neighborhoods that tend to be lower income. Hours of raw documentary footage were edited to place all these interviewees in a dialogue, putting forth the landscape of opinions in an understandable, relatable way.

Another problem highlighted in the video happens when heavy rain over-burdens the treatment plants, resulting in the release of dirty sewage water — a phenomenon called combined sewer overflow. This became the subject of a second short animated video by Justin Cassano. It also inspired a toolkit called the “Sewer in a Suitcase,” which explores a variety of options for individuals and the city to deal with combined sewer overflow. The combination of these hands-on resources and videos are used to lead informational workshops across the city, spreading useful information about how the urban water system affects the residents and ways the community can voice their opinions or take more control over these issues.

Artists and designers interested in getting involved have a variety of options — from applying to be one of their “teaching artists” to simply volunteering at one of the workshops or events. CUP puts out many open calls, and more information can be found on their website.

Additional Information:
City-as-School
The Water Underground project page

Event Details:
AIGA/NY Not Watered Down: A Screening & Discussion with CUP

Event Photos:
Click here to view all photos from AIGA/NY Not Watered Down: A Screening & Discussion with CUP on Flickr. To view additional photos, or to contribute your photos, visit our AIGA New York Flickr group.

Special thanks to guest contributing writer, Mira Rojanasakul, for the AIGA/NY Not Watered Down: A Screening & Discussion with CUP event recap and photos. Say email hidden; JavaScript is required to Mira Rojanasakul or follow her @rjnskl.