Public invited to adopt, decorate Winona-area drinking fountains

An example of a decorated water fountain at Saint Mary's University.

WINONA, Minn. — The public is invited to adopt a drinking fountain as part of the “Our Drinking Fountains, Our Water!” collaborative yearlong project — designed to inspire stewardship of our public local water and promote a broader understanding of water issues.

Through the adopt-a-drinking fountain project, community members are invited to design and implement an artistic design around a drinking fountain. This project was designed to get the community involved in highlighting our drinking fountains and remind everyone how lucky we are to have clean, drinkable water right at our fingertips.

Fountains must be registered by Feb. 27. Decorating must be started and completed between March 2-18, and the design must remain in place until Earth Day celebrations on April 27.

A map of the decorated fountains (along with designer credit) will appear on the project’s website, water.southeastmn.edu. Prizes will be awarded in a number of categories including: most educational, most inspirational, best use of water theme, most creative, and most eye catching.

Designs cannot interfere with accessibility to the fountain and must be respectful and appropriate. Permission must be obtained from the owner/management of the building, and only indoor drinking fountains may be decorated. All costs must be borne by the company, organization or participant.

Refer to the project’s website for rules of the contest, as well as details about how to register a fountain, or call Katie LaPlant at (507) 457-6936 or kalaplan@smumn.edu.

The website also includes details of the other projects – including this week’s Heart of the Beast Puppet-Mask Theater residency at Saint Mary’s University and the Lake Park Bandshell drinking fountain art project.

As part of “Our Drinking Fountains, Our Water!” Saint Mary’s, Winona State University, Minnesota State College-Southeast Technical, Southeast Minnesota Water Resources Board and the City of Winona are incorporating the water theme into classes, presentations and activities this year. The goal of the project is for the community to achieve a broader and deeper understanding of water quality and stewardship. This project is funded by the State of Minnesota through the Minnesota Campus Compact.