Bridging Stream and City
Inspiring Natural Wonder through Art and Technology
![Photo of Samantha Brooks and Emma Wilson looking at painted community artwork at the Blacksburg Farmers Market. Photo courtesy of Matt Gentry.](/content/icat_vt_edu/en/projects/2022-2023/major/bridging-stream-and-city/_jcr_content/article-image.transform/m-medium/image.jpg)
![The Underwater Wonders: of Toms Creek. An Immersive Art Experience. Free and Open to All. Explore the Underwater Wonders of Toms Creek in this community created immersive art exhibition highlighting Toms Creek, a local waterbody that flows into the New River and home to the Bluehead Chub (Nocomis leptocephalus), the rock-moving minnow taking center stage in this installation. Created in collaboration with Perspective Gallery, the Virginia Tech Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, and through a SEAD Grant from the Virginia Tech Institute of Creativity and Technology (ICAT), the two year project involved the community art-making of hundreds of painted fish, theatre workshops, and educational programs using the nexus between science, art, and technology to encourage personal attachment to local watersheds and ultimately a community connected to the natural beauty around them. March 14 - May 10, 2023 Opening Reception: Reception Friday March 17, 5 - 7 p.m. Gallery Hours: Mon/6-9 p.m., Tues-Sat/12- 9 p.m., Sun/1 - 5 p.m. 2nd Floor Squires Student Center - campuslife.vt.edu/perspectivegallery.](/content/icat_vt_edu/en/projects/2022-2023/major/bridging-stream-and-city/_jcr_content/content/adaptiveimage.transform/m-medium/image.png)
With the first half of our awarded ICAT funds, we successfully carried out multiple events that are fulfilling and exceeding the three main projects we initially proposed– an art exhibition/social practice art project, a bluehead chub nest-building game, and a devised ecotheatre workshop. We orchestrated several events, involving both the art exhibition and the nest-building game. Additionally, we organized a devised theatre experience, raising awareness of the Mountain Valley Pipeline and its impact on aquatic and human communities.