News Release 

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana cities with fewer than 15,000 residents are being offered the opportunity to host an exhibit from the world-famous Smithsonian through a program sponsored by Indiana Humanities.

Six communities will be selected through an application process to host Water/Ways, a national touring exhibit that highlights the role water plays in our daily lives and allows each host community to celebrate its unique connection to water. Applications should be submitted by tax-exempt organizations, such as museums, libraries, civic organizations, local governments or schools, representing their communities. 

“Water has been a major factor in Indiana communities’ formation, growth and culture, and this is a wonderful opportunity to explore and highlight its impact,” said Keira Amstutz, president and CEO of Indiana Humanities. “I’m especially excited that we’re able to bring the exhibit to smaller towns and cities, since many of them continue to be defined and intimately connected to the waterways that surround and flow through them.”

Selected venues will host the exhibit for six weeks each. To prepare, the hosts will receive extensive training, funding and other resources from the Smithsonian and Indiana Humanities. Each host organization will also curate a unique section of the exhibit that explores its community’s relationship to water.                                  

Water/Ways is part of Museum on Main Street, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and Indiana Humanities, and was adapted from an exhibition organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York. Museum on Main Street works with rural communities to design and host high-quality exhibits and create dynamic public programs across the United States. Indiana Humanities is proud to bring this award-winning program to six sites in Indiana from June 2021 to April 2022.

Organizations interested in serving as a host for the Water/Ways exhibit should complete the application at www.indianahumanities.org/waterways. Host venues must be open at least 30 hours a week during the exhibit, including hours on the weekend, and be able to provide a secure space of at least 750 square feet with at least two electrical outlets to host the exhibit. Applications are due Friday, Sept. 18, 2020.