Rik Sargent and his sculpture. Credit- Westword

Artist Rik Sargent’s One World One Water sculpture is being celebrating right now at Denver’s Metro State College during a dedication ceremony. To celebrate Water 2012 read an interview with Rik that appeared in Westword and check out more water -inspired art this Friday during the “Living River of Arts” coming to Santa Fe Drive. From Westword:

Why water?

Aw, man, water is everything. We, the One World, One Water Group, are passionate about using the arts to facilitate creative conversations about ecological and water issues. What’s meant by that is, there are things you can say as an artist that would seem politically incorrect if people of leadership said them. Artists can use humor and be tongue-in-cheek, the same way a late-night talk-show host can do this. It deepens the conversation.

What kind of conversation are you hoping to facilitate?

We are in a renaissance of water awareness in the West and around the world. The old rules of water use and natural resource use were based on infinite forests and rivers. Now that we’re aware that they are very finite, we’re moving from natural resource to commodity. As a commodity, that means somebody owns our water. For the first time now, that’s inevitable in the unfolding of the planet. What we have to do as people is to be conscious of that. It’s a very complicated discussion and it has to be done with a certain amount of joy or it becomes venomous. It’s not about good guys or bad guys; it’s about people adjusting to evolution.