Museum On Main Hosts Second Virtual Exhibit

Press release from the Museum on Main:

July 20, 2020

On July 8, Pleasanton’s Museum on Main opened its second virtual exhibit, Water/Ways on its Facebook and YouTube channel. The Museum is one of five museums in the state of California to host this Smithsonian travelling exhibit, which dives into water – an essential component of life on our planet, environmentally, culturally, and historically.

This exhibit is so important because water powers the environment’s engine, impacting climate and helping to shape and sculpt the landscape. Humans and animals rely on water for health, hydration, food supplies and hygiene. But water’s impact on humans is much more than just biological and environmental. Water is an important element in American culture. We are attracted to water as a source of peace and contemplation. Water carves out a place in our memories of where we live, and we play. We cherish our connections to nature, particularly the sights, the sounds, and the sense of place we feel at the water’s edge.

Water also plays a practical role in American society. The availability of water had a significant impact on settlement and migration patterns. Access to water and control of water resources are a central part of political and economic planning. Human creativity and resourcefulness provide new ways of renewing and refreshing water resources and renewing respect for the natural environment.

The Museum on Main is excited to be sharing this important and timely exhibit through August 16th. Since the Museum on Main has been closed since mid-March due to the CoVid 19 outbreak, and no reopening date has been set, the Museum on Main staff have been working on different ways to help the community engage with this exhibit virtually. The museum is providing video tours for our audiences and water related content on social media.. Each Tuesday the Museum staff will post a new installment of the Water/Ways virtual tour. Past and future tour videos can be found on the museum’s Facebook page and YouTube Channel. Pleasanton water related content will also be posted every Wednesday and Saturday through August 15th on the Museum on Main’s Facebook page.

The museum will also be hosting a series of water related programs on our YouTube channel. All programs are open to the public and will be streamed to our YouTube channel live. We encourage the community to join these discussions and screenings to learn more about the history of water in our valley and more current water issues.

A Discussion with… Museum on Main Curator Ken MacLennan
When: July 29 at 6:30pm
Where: YouTube Live- Museum on Main Channel
Museum on Main Curator, Ken MacLennan will be sharing his presentation, Pleasanton Water a Historical Perspective, will take participants through the human relationship with water in the Pleasanton area from the eve of the Spanish invasion into the 1980s. He will explore how the changing use of land has led to changing demands on our water resources—not just greater consumption from a rising population in the Valley, but also reclamation, flood control, and integration into a statewide water infrastructure.

A Discussion with… Zone 7 President Olivia Sanwong
When: August 12 at 6:30pm
Where: YouTube Live- Museum on Main Channel
Olivia Sanwong is President of our Alameda County Flood Control & Water Conservation District, also known as Zone 7 Water Agency. First elected to Zone 7 in 2018, Olivia is especially passionate about sharing her knowledge about the agency and planning for droughts and floods. Olivia’s presentation will provide an overview of Water Supply and Demand in the Tri-Valley region.

GoGreen Initiative Film Screening
August 15 at 6:30pm
Where: YouTube Live- Museum on Main Channel
The GoGreen Initiative, an organization whose mission is to provide schools with the tools, training and ongoing support they need to create a “culture of conservation” and natural resource stewardship within their community, will be having a screening of their new film, Hometown Water: The Lifeline of Pleasanton. The film will explore how the we interact with water today and how water use in the past helped shape our community landscape.

Water/Ways is a traveling exhibit is developed and fabricated by the Smithsonian’s Traveling Exhibition Service-Museum on Main Street division and sponsored and traveled by in California by Exhibit Envoy, a non-profit organization that offers traveling exhibits to museums across the country.

Pleasanton’s Museum on Main is located at 603 Main Street in downtown Pleasanton and is closed at the moment because of the CoVid-19 pandemic.

This press release was produced by the Museum on Main. The views expressed here are the author's own.