Join artist Rosten Woo and Clockshop for a multi-day tour series, tracing the pathways of water in Los Angeles. What does water want, and what do we want from water? We'll look at the ways that water is captured and released and the ways that humans degrade and improve water and land.

This series will take us to rarely seen sites of water treatment, water modeling, and habitat creation in the company of scientists, policymakers, water scholars, and holders of cultural knowledge. These public programs are designed to foster group learning in preparation for a long-term artwork by Rosten Woo at the Bowtie parcel along the Los Angeles river with The Nature Conservancy. The Bowtie parcel is owned by California State Parks and will include a 3-acre wetland demonstration project breaking ground later this year.

This series is free and open to the public. RSVP to join.
Tour 1 - Capture and Quality
Friday, February 2, 2024
12:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Sepulveda Basin Amphitheater

Join us at the Sepulveda Basin for a conversation with LA watershed experts about our assumptions and the realities of our waterways. We will examine the cultural and environmental impacts of our water infrastructure and its relationship to different communities throughout the Greater Los Angeles Basin. Speakers will include Miguel Luna (Tribal Historic and Cultural Preservation Department Director at the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians), and Mark Hanna and Jessica Hensen from Olin Studio. Lunch will be provided.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Rosten Woo is a designer, writer, and educator living in Los Angeles. He produces civic-scale artworks and works as a collaborator and consultant to a variety of grassroots and non-profit organizations. His work has been exhibited at the Cooper-Hewitt Design Triennial, the Venice Architecture Biennale, Netherlands Architectural Institute, Storefront for Art and Architecture, Lower East Side Tenement Museum, and various piers, public housing developments, tugboats, shopping malls, and parks in New York and Los Angeles. He is co-founder and former executive director of the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), a New York Based non-profit organization dedicated to using art and design to foster civic participation. His book, "Street Value," about race and retail urban development, was published by Princeton Architectural Press in 2010. He teaches art and design at the California Institute of the Arts, Pomona College, and Art Center College of Design and has lectured internationally.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Miguel Luna grew up in a city next to a river in Colombia, and in that river he developed a kinship with water and later again with the LA River upon immigration. Over the last two decades, Luna has worked on master planning projects at the city and regional level that have led to the augmentation of urban green space and water supply, and the improvement of water quality. He has worked on funding measures with a focus on bringing resources to under-resourced communities. Luna is the CEO of Urban Semillas, serves as the Tribal Historic and Cultural Preservation Department Director at the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, and is on the boards of the Metropolitan Water District, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, Water Education for Latino Leaders, Community Nature Connection, Pacoima Beautiful, and Vincent Price Art Museum.

Mark Hanna is a fifth-generation Californian who has spent the last 25 years helping to solve some of the southwest’s biggest water resource challenges. He received his doctorate in Water Resources from UCLA and is a California registered professional engineer. As a senior principal for Geosyntec and manager of their Downtown Los Angeles office, Mark specializes in hydrology, large system hydraulics, and local water resources. He recently completed the LA County LA River Master Plan and is currently directing the City of Los Angeles’ Sepulveda Basin Vision Plan.

Jessica Henson is a Partner at OLIN where she leads the Los Angeles Studio and directs planning and design projects that seek to create socially and environmentally resilient infrastructure including the Los Angeles County LA River Master Plan and the Sepulveda Basin Vision Plan. Jessica’s work explores the relationships between hydrological, cultural, and social contexts. Specifically, she explores how landscape architects can create anticipatory design solutions that create more equitable communities in both urban and rural settings and respond to issues relating to flooding and water resources.

LOCATION
Arrival: WHAT WATER WANTS Tour 1 will take place at Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve at 6350 Woodley Ave, Van Nuys, CA 91436. Please meet at the amphitheater located near the parking lot. Use the map below to guide you in your arrival.

Parking options: There is free parking available in the lot directly next to the Amphitheater area.
This parking is on a first-come first-serve basis, please give yourself time to park and walk over to our meeting spot.

Restrooms: There are several all-gender public restrooms on site.

Map of Sepulveda Basin — Map to Amphitheater at Sepulveda Basin. Click map to expand directions

SUPPORT
The WHAT WATER WANTS tour series is generously funded by the National Endowment for the Arts Our Town Program.

Take Me to Your River, and related programs, is additionally supported through generous funding from the Mellon Foundation, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the California Arts Council, The Nature Conservancy, and Clockshop’s generous community of individual donors.