My idea is to enlist people who do "non-destructive" street art (such as chalk, temporary stencils, paper cutouts, and other interesting alternatives to graffiti) to create an innovative public awareness campaign about water. The broad theme would be "We Are Water" - not only are our bodies made up largely of water, but it's essential for any community to thrive.

The street art would be featured in public places where water is an important symbol, like Minnehaha Falls and the Spoonbridge & Cherry. The art might incorporate statistics about water, or lines of poetry about water, or other messages. The art pieces would not only get people thinking, but can also compel people to change their behavior. For example, the first 50 people who upload a photo of the street art at the Spoonbridge & Cherry sculpture to their Facebook page would win a low-flow showerhead. This would spread the word and also help individuals make small positive changes in how they use water in their own lives. The impact could be measured by how many people post and share photos and info about the art via social media, as well as how many households receive prizes to help them change their water use habits for the better.

This kind of street art is becoming more popular, and many kinds of people could participate. Even youth are already creating and sharing ideas using this medium of art. For instance, some of my students at Cretin-Derham Hall are engaging in knit bombing, in which messages are created in public places using knitted yarn.

My family and I live in the Merriam Park neighborhood of Saint Paul. However, we have friends and family across the metro so we consider the Twin Cities to be our community. This idea was inspired by my students at CDH, but I foresee a broader range of residents in the Twin Cities who could participate in creating and/or viewing the street art.

My wife and I have two small children. Every day my family and I see how water issues affect our community, since we live not far from the Mississippi River and we spend a lot of time outdoors. We're concerned that our tap water remains clean and pure, and we try to take steps to conserve water so that it will be there for the next generation. Although we do some things - like using a rain barrel and trying to limit the length of our showers - we could do much more. I think that other people living in my community are like that -- they care about water issues, but they are busy and overwhelmed with the problem, so they don't always take the steps necessary to make changes in their lives.