Unlocking the Power of Community Storytelling
The future of water and sanitation services depends not just on infrastructure and technology, but on the human stories that shape our relationship with this precious resource. Across California and beyond, communities are harnessing the power of art, design, and the humanities to preserve their cultural narratives around water – stories that have been marginalized, forgotten, or relegated to the shadows.
By elevating these “liquid legacies,” we can unlock new pathways for inclusive, sustainable water management that reflects the full diversity of human experiences. This is the mission driving a growing movement of community-based projects that interweave water, culture, and civic engagement.
At the heart of this work is a fundamental belief: that the communities who have the deepest connection to water – Indigenous peoples, immigrant communities, and marginalized groups – must be empowered to share their stories and shape the decisions that impact their lives and environments. By amplifying these underrepresented voices, we can shatter the dominant narratives around water and sanitation, forging a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable future.
Reclaiming the Narrative: Armando Minjarez and the Power of Placemaking
In Wichita, Kansas, artist and community organizer Armando Minjarez is leading a powerful effort to do just that. As the son of Mexican immigrants who relocated to the American Midwest, Minjarez’s own story is one of displacement, adaptation, and the constant negotiation of identity.
“Ni de aquí ni de allá” (neither from here nor there) is how Minjarez describes his sense of belonging, capturing the internal upheaval many immigrants and their descendants face as they straddle multiple cultures and landscapes. Yet, through his work, Minjarez has found a way to transform this “identity crisis” into a source of strength, empowering marginalized communities to reclaim their narratives and reshape the physical spaces they inhabit.
One of Minjarez’s key projects is the Materia Collective, an artist cooperative that empowers communities of color in Wichita to develop socially-engaged art practices. By facilitating workshops, mentoring emerging leaders, and collaborating on site-specific installations, Minjarez and his team are using creativity as a conduit for social justice – challenging dominant power structures and elevating the stories of the people.
In one particularly powerful example, Minjarez worked with the Materia Collective to transform a neglected alleyway in downtown Wichita into a vibrant, community-driven space. Dubbed the “Alley Art Project,” this collaborative endeavor involved local artists, activists, and residents in envisioning and actualizing a shared public space that reflected the neighborhood’s rich cultural tapestry.
“The alley itself became a canvas,” Minjarez explains, “where we could create a sense of belonging, where people could see themselves represented and celebrated.”
Through murals, installations, and programming that highlighted the histories and lived experiences of marginalized groups, the Alley Art Project reclaimed this once-forgotten space, transforming it into a hub of community engagement and cultural expression. By elevating the voices, stories, and creative talents of the people, Minjarez and his collaborators demonstrated the power of placemaking to challenge the status quo and imagine new, more inclusive futures.
Centering Community Curation: Lessons from Tucson
The Alley Art Project is just one example of how community-driven art and design can preserve and amplify the cultural narratives around water and sanitation. Across California and beyond, organizations are pioneering innovative approaches to this work, drawing on the expertise and lived experiences of the people themselves.
In Tucson, Arizona, for instance, the Tucson Museum of Art has developed a “Community-Based Curation Toolkit” to guide cultural institutions in centering the perspectives of marginalized communities. Rather than relying on traditional top-down models of museum curation, this approach empowers local residents to shape the narratives, stories, and artistic expressions that are elevated and celebrated.
As the toolkit states, “The understanding of a culture comes from hearing the language, tasting the food, seeing personal interactions, experiencing the traditions, and so much more when it is in context.” By prioritizing community engagement, collaboration, and the nuanced lived experiences of the people, this model disrupts the exclusionary legacies of the museum space, paving the way for more inclusive, representative, and impactful programming.
One powerful example from the Tucson toolkit is the “Harlem Voices” project, which used the performing arts to spark community conversations about the African American experience in a rural Northern California town. Through a series of live performances, facilitated discussions, and collaborative workshops, the project empowered local residents to share their stories, build empathy, and work towards a more inclusive community environment.
Similarly, the “Betty Rodriguez Regional Library: Communities Read Together” initiative in Fresno, California, leveraged a young adult novel exploring themes of immigration, social justice, and identity to anchor a six-month journey of literacy, programming, and community-led dialogue. By centering the Mexican American experience and creating accessible family-oriented activities, the project fostered critical thinking, promoted empathy, and strengthened community connections.
These examples, and many others like them, demonstrate how community-based curation can elevate the lived realities and diverse narratives around water, sanitation, and environmental justice – uplifting the people as the true experts and catalysts for change.
Funding the Humanities to Drive Social Impact
Unlocking the power of community storytelling requires not just creativity and collaboration, but also strategic investment in the humanities. Across California, foundations and government agencies are recognizing the vital role that arts, culture, and the humanities can play in driving social impact and advancing community-based solutions to complex challenges.
The California Humanities “Humanities for All” grant program, for instance, has provided critical funding for numerous community-driven projects that intersect water, sanitation, and cultural preservation. From initiatives exploring the stories of Cambodian refugees in the Bay Area to efforts documenting the Afro-Latinx experience in Los Angeles, these grants are empowering marginalized communities to share their narratives and shape the future of their environments.
One particularly inspiring example is the “Koreatown Storytelling Program: Traditional Healing Arts in Koreatown” project in Los Angeles. This intergenerational, multilingual initiative engaged local high school students and elders in exploring the culture of health and healing practices in this vibrant urban community. By training youth in oral history and ethnographic techniques, the project not only documented and shared these valuable traditions, but also strengthened intergenerational connections and promoted community well-being.
Similarly, the “Braiding Water: An Art and Cultural Festival Celebrating Our Water Resources and Rituals” project in San Luis Obispo County used arts, storytelling, and community engagement to center the perspectives of historically marginalized populations in conversations about water management and environmental justice. By elevating the aquatic connections and cultural practices of diverse local communities, the project fostered a deeper understanding of the varied meanings and values surrounding this precious resource.
These humanities-driven initiatives demonstrate the power of community-based curation and storytelling to catalyze meaningful, equitable, and sustainable change around water and sanitation issues. By investing in the creative and cultural knowledge of the people, these projects are not only preserving vital legacies, but also forging new pathways for inclusive, community-led stewardship of our shared resources.
Conclusion: Embracing Liquid Legacies for a Better Future
As we confront the mounting challenges of climate change, demographic shifts, and increasingly complex social-ecological systems, the stories we tell about water and sanitation will be critical in shaping our collective future. By embracing the “liquid legacies” of diverse communities and centering their lived experiences, we can unlock new ways of understanding, valuing, and managing these vital resources.
Through community-driven art, design, and humanities-based initiatives, we can preserve the rich cultural narratives around water, sanitation, and environmental justice – empowering marginalized voices, building cross-cultural empathy and understanding, and catalyzing sustainable, equitable solutions.
By investing in this work and elevating these underrepresented stories, we can chart a new course – one that honors the past, embraces the present, and boldly imagines a future where water and sanitation serve the needs of all people, not just the privileged few. It is in these “liquid legacies” that we find the keys to a more just, resilient, and inclusive world.
