A new art installation is under construction at Des Moines' Water Works Park to honor water quality advocate Bill Stowe. The former Des Moines Water Works CEO, who died in 2019, headed the public utility for seven years and was known for his commitment to protecting water quality in the state.
The 20-foot-tall circular pavilion, called Water Curia, is expected to be unveiled by the end of the year. Once it's complete, the artwork will double as an outdoor classroom, where people can learn about the threats to Iowa’s drinking water.
Graham Gillette, with the William G. Stowe Foundation, said the board wanted to carry on the legacy that Stowe left behind, but didn’t know how to at first.
“We came to the conclusion that it was about education,” Gillette said. “Bringing people together in a conversation to solve our most critical problem, and in this case, our most critical problem is the water quality in the state of Iowa.”
Gillette said Stowe was committed to encouraging difficult conversations about Iowa’s water quality, like the role agricultural pollutants play in high nitrate levels in drinking water.
“Creating a gathering space and a way to continue and amplify that conversation really was the starting point of Water Curia,” he said.
The Stowe Foundation is partnering with Drake University’s School of Education to provide environmental education at Water Curia. Gillette said the art installation will feature ever-changing educational displays and activities, along with a permanent display called the Prairie Meadows Knowledge Walk. The walk is meant to teach people about the history of water treatment in Des Moines and the water infiltration gallery that runs below the park.
The cylindrical design of the Water Curia pavilion is meant to resemble the pipes of that underground infiltration gallery, which is a series of pipes throughout the park that are surrounded by sand and gravel. The sand and gravel act as a natural filter for river water before it enters the pipes and is collected for treatment. Eventually that water becomes drinking water.
Jordan Weber, the artist who designed Water Curia, grew up in Des Moines and remembers the impact of the infiltration system.
“I was kind of pushing back into my childhood at Des Moines Public Schools, we would go to Des Moines Water Works and there were diagrams of what was happening underneath the water, and that all stuck with me as a kid,” Weber said.
The installation's curved walls will be made of stone that resemble the gravel that filters water running through the gallery.
Weber said he has spent most of his life advocating for positive impacts on the environment through his art, and he wanted Water Curia to encompass land, air and water quality. He pointed out a specific type of rock featured in the walls of the project, called basalt.
“If you have a system of basalt, or volcanic rock, and you spread it over a field, when it gets wet, it will act as a carbon sequestration system,” he explained. “So, we’re really thinking about air quality as well, soil quality and then water quality.”
Weber said the project ultimately represents the type of conversations Stowe encouraged and left the public thinking about.
“We don’t want this to be anything other than a powerful symbol that pushes into education and something larger in Iowa, where we can really make a dent on these nitrate levels, the pesticides, the herbicides and all the things causing harm,” Weber said.
