Water-themed artwork by L.A. students begins multi-county tour

LOS ANGELES, Calif., Feb. 26, 2001 (BUSINESS WIRE)—The 26 pieces of artwork may well not be as recognizable as a Picasso or Van Gogh, but each piece in a touring art exhibit sponsored by the Metropolitan Water District is considered priceless.

The exhibit, "A Glass Half Full: Children's Perspectives on Water," represents the winning entries in Metropolitan's annual student poster contest designed to call attention to the importance of water.

The artwork is featured in Metropolitan's 2001 wall calendar, published annually since 1989. The student artwork display is currently touring 10 Southland water agencies to bring the message of water conservation off the pallet and into the community.

"This year is the first time that Metropolitan has worked with many of our member public agencies to coordinate a travelling exhibit designed to give our student artists and their message a wider audience," said Russ Donnelly, Metropolitan's manager of education services.

"We know that there is tremendous strength behind a message interpreted by a student's artistic hand. It adds such an important visual component to Metropolitan's outreach efforts," Donnelly said.

The exhibit, composed of entries from throughout Metropolitan's six-county service area, represents the work of students grades K-8. The 26 posters were chosen from a field of 200 entries gathered by Metropolitan's member agencies last May during the annual Water Awareness Month poster contest.

Metropolitan's board of directors first viewed the exhibit when it was displayed at the agency's headquarters last November. Since its downtown Los Angeles debut, the exhibit has been showcased at the Helix Water District and in the city of Anaheim.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies serving 17 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management programs.