Water is the living element that connects us — to each other, to the land, to the species we share this planet with, and to the generations who will come after us. It moves through us and through the watershed, carrying memory and life. And right now, across Canada, that web of connection is under threat: from privatization, from extraction, from the compounding crises of climate change that are draining aquifers, retreating glaciers, and poisoning the life source that communities depend on.
The Water is Life Art Challenge is an invitation to respond — not only with outrage and strategy, but with imagination. Developed by the Council of Canadians in partnership with Blue Community Schools and members of the Justseeds artists’ cooperative, this challenge calls in teachers, youth, artists, water protectors, workers, and community from across the country to turn our attention towards our local watersheds and our youth. What do our young ones know about water and how it replenishes? What does your river teach you? What do you grieve about your lake? What do you want to protect?
Over a series of facilitated sessions grounded in hydrological literacy and Indigenous water knowledge, participating groups will explore these questions together — and make art from what they find. Selected works will be hand screen-printed as posters by members of Justseeds, and distributed to every participating group. This is art as water stewardship, and community as the medium…and you are all invited.
