THE TAP: Visioning the Ogallala Aquifer on the Llano Estacado
Landmark Gallery, TTU School of Art
March 21 – April 24, 2022
Public Reception: Saturday, April 2, 2022 from 4:00-6:00 PM
The Tap is an artwork and gallery installation by M12 Studio presented by Landmark Arts at Texas Tech University. A meditation on the Ogallala Aquifer at the Llano Estacado, The Tap takes us on a subterranean journey through time and space, sound and vision.
One of the largest aquifers in the world, the Ogallala lies beneath eight states with the region's footprint home to some of the oldest species on the planet—bison, sandhill cranes, pronghorn antelope and others. As part of the Great Plains, this area was once an American Serengeti, a landscape full of life and diversity from fields to the flyways. Today, the Ogallala region is mostly farm and ranch land. Continual challenges include aquifer recharge which is prevented by drought combined with relentless large-scale farming practices. Communities in the region are feeling the consequences of being out of balance with the living world beneath us. Water health is reflected through the built environment, economic, natural, and spiritual livelihood. In the Ogallala region, people depend on the sustained health of the aquifer below. The Tap challenges viewers to think overtly and relationally about water and sustainable futures in our communities and through our commons.
Beyond the gallery…
In addition to the Landmark Gallery, The Tap can be experienced at At'l Do Farms, in Shallowater, TX, where M12 Studio has installed a cast polished brass water tap. Special thanks to J. Eric Simpson's Museum of Post-Agricultural Art at At'l Do Farms. Guided presentations will be available at The Tap on weekends by appointment. Go to Eventbrite for dates and times - all sessions are free and open to the public.
Landmark Arts exhibitions and speaker programs in the Texas Tech University School of Art are made possible in part with a generous grant from the Helen Jones Foundation of Lubbock. Additional support comes from Cultural Activities Fees administered through the J.T. & Margaret Talkington College of Visual & Performing Arts.Additional funding for The Tap has come from the Ryla T. & John F. Lott Endowment for Excellence in the Visual Arts, administered through the School of Art and the Still Water Foundation, Austin, Texas. Special thanks to J. Eric Simpson and At'l Do Farms, Shallowwater, Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University, Johnathan Pool and Weston Drilling, and the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District No. 1 for their assistance with providing materials used in the exhibition.