Free touring exhibit at Grapevine Mills teaches families about ‘global water crisis’
An augmented-reality exhibit and 360-degree theater is headed to Grapevine Mills as part of an effort to educate visitors about global water issues.
The Global Water Center is bringing its Mobile Discovery Center to the shopping center with more than 25,000 square feet of exhibit space, including water challenge games, testing stations and more activities for kids. The free exhibit is part of a global tour that will visit Chicago, Nashville and St. Paul later this year.
Chris Holdorf, executive director of the Global Water Center, said in a statement that it’s often easy for people who have access to clean, safe water to “lose sight” of the perils faced by people who don’t.
“Impacts from the lack of safe water have posed serious health hazards for one third of the world’s population for generations and something must be done to end the crisis,” Holdorf said in a statement.
The free-standing center will open in the parking area outside of Ross and Sun & Ski Sports from Wednesday, July 21 through Sunday, July 25, and again from Wednesday, July 28 through Sunday, Aug. 1. Visitors can step inside from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and the center will close up shop on the last Sunday at 3 p.m.
Viewers can expect to see three different exhibits, including “Water is Life,” which features a motion-sensor wall depicting natural environments and wildlife. “Water is People” focuses on the challenges faced by people around the world living without access to safe drinking water.
About 2.2 billion people worldwide lack reliable access to clean water, leading to preventable waterborne illnesses that kill more than 800,000 people each year, according to the Global Water Center.
The final exhibit, “Safe Water for Everyone,” displays the technological solutions that could help address these disparities, and how people’s lives are changed when their communities gain access to safe water sources. Outdoor activities will also be available to shoppers with less time to walk through the exhibits.
Through its free tour, the Global Water Center hopes to inspire people to take action and support its mission of bringing together different partners, including government agencies and nonprofits, to end the water crisis, Holdorf said.
“The global water crisis is too complex to solve unless a consortium of organizations and individuals work together in the development and execution of a unified, strategic plan,” he said. “The Mobile Discovery Center ties it all together and shows how we can successfully tackle these issues.”
This story was originally published July 21, 2021 at 5:30 AM.
