Fairmount Water Works

The Watershed is An Open Book
2018-11-01 16:30 - 18:00, 2018-11-08 16:30 - 18:00, 2018-11-15 16:30 - 18:00, 2018-12-06 16:30 - 18:00 (America/New_York) | Mander Recreation Center, 2140 N. 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19121, United States
New Early Literacy Program for 3-8 Year Olds and Their Caregivers!

Weekly workshops with a seasonal theme to help build reading readiness using “teachable” moments in your own neighborhood.
Great incentives for frequent attendance, such as backpacks loaded with things to help your child read, explore, and play in the outdoors!
Partners: Mander Recreation Center, Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center, and Let’s Go Outdoors.
Supported by the William Penn Foundation
There is no fee, but pre-registration is required. Space is limited so sign up today!

The Watershed is An Open Book
2018-11-10 10:00 - 11:30, 2018-12-08 10:00 - 11:30 | Gideon Elementary School, 2817 W. Glenwood Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, 19121, United States

The Watershed is An Open Book
2018-11-17 13:00 - 16:00, 2018-12-08 13:00 - 16:00 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States

Let It Snow!
2018-12-26 11:00 - 15:00, 2018-12-27 11:00 - 15:00, 2018-12-28 11:00 - 15:00 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
It may not be snowing yet, but you can make your own little winter wonderland in a DIY snow globe this week at the Water Works -OR- learn how all the little fish get ready for the winter cold as you make a stuffed paper fish!

It's a S.T.E.A.M. Powered Day!
2019-01-18 09:00 - 15:00 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States

Class: Watercolors on the Water
2019-07-13 13:00 - 16:00, 2019-07-20 13:00 - 16:00, 2019-07-27 13:00 - 16:00, 2019-08-03 13:00 - 16:00, 2019-08-10 13:00 - 16:00 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
Explore the beauty and versatility of watercolor at the historic Water Works space on the Schuylkill! Enjoy behind the scene natural spaces while learning a variety of watercolor approaches to painting beautiful waterscapes. Students will take inspiration from the river that continues to define the natural landscape of Philadelphia and will be encouraged to find their own personal means of expression through paint. Class will conclude with an exhibition of original works of art at the Water Works in Fall 2019. Beginners welcome!
Class meets at the Fairmount Water Works. Instructor: Alicia Mino
For more information contact: 215-391-4806/aking@pafa.org

Educator’s Workshop: The City & the River
2019-07-20 09:00 - 15:00 | Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
Held at the Pennsylvania Academy for Fine Arts and the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center. Lunch and transportation between sites is provided.
The workshop will introduce PAFA’s new special exhibition From the Schuylkill to the Hudson: Landscapes of the Early American Republic that delves into the important and underexplored tradition of landscape representation in Philadelphia from the Early American Republic to the Centennial Exhibition (1876), while FWW will engage teachers in lessons and provide resources related to the power of place. Educators will explore sample activities and essential questions to engage students with the important themes connecting visual art and technology, civic mindedness and the role of art in politics, environmental issues and history of landscape genre.
Cost: $15 // Free for Teachers with a PAFA Membership.
Participants receive 3 hours of Act 48 Credit /New Jersey PD Credit.

A Walk Along the Parkway
2019-08-03 14:00 - 15:30 | Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
Philadelphia’s Parkway references the most beautiful cities of Old Europe and this walking tour will help visitors discover the magnificent buildings along Philadelphia’s own Champs-Élysées and what lies beneath them. Begin the tour in the From Schuylkill to Hudson exhibition and learn about the infamous Walking Treaty on the way to Logan Square. Then embark on a mile-long stroll down the picturesque path to the Fairmount Water Works, where wheels once pumped the City’s drinking water. Ideal for history buffs, cultural connoisseurs and architectural mavens.
PLEASE NOTE: Comfortable shoes strongly encouraged for this walking tour. Transportation back to PAFA is provided.
This Walking Tour is made possible with the support of the Fairmount Water Works.

Points of View Speaker Series: City Water, City Life
2019-10-26 14:00 - 15:30 | PA
In City Water, City Life, historian and author Carl Smith explores the development of the first successful waterworks systems in Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago between the 1790s and the 1860s. Smith shows how the discussion, design, and use of waterworks reveal how Americans framed their conceptions of urban democracy and how they understood the natural and the built environment, individual health and the well-being of society, and the qualities of time and history. Smith is the Franklyn Bliss Snyder Professor of English & American Studies at Northwestern University.
Cost: $15 (free for PAFA members)

Engage With Your World: Find New in the Familiar
2020-09-16 19:00 - 20:00 | PA
During this two-part program we’ll search for the surprising and refreshing in familiar places, and the new and urgent in ourselves.
About this Event
This is a two-part virtual event, taking place on September 16 & 23 from 7pm – 8pm via Zoom.
These past months, it may seem that our personal worlds have grown smaller, or crowded, and our own lives nudged off course. In this one-hour program we’ll search for the surprising and refreshing in familiar places, and the new and urgent in ourselves.
Author Beth Kephart will lead an illustrated two-part ZOOM presentation and conversation on September 16th & 23rd from 7 pm to 8 pm based on her books—Flow: The Life and Times of Philadelphia’s Schuylkill River, Cloud Hopper, and the upcoming Wife|Daughter|Self: a memoir in essays.
She will inspire us to listen to/look for/document the sound of the rain, the roles we play in our lives, and the passions that keep us alive, among other imaginative prompts.
The second part of the event will be for creative sharing with the group.
Photo: Beth Kephart

River Days 2021
2021-10-02 11:00 - 14:00 | The Discovery Center, 3401 Reservoir Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19121, United States
Enjoy hands-on activities for families throughout the day, plus a live performance conducted by the Cultural Heritage Fund Group, comprised of citizens of the Nanticoke Lenni Lenape tribe and presented by the Lenapehoking~Watershed, a place for water, art and culture.
Lenape performance/presentation starts at 1pm!
Space is limited, so be sure to secure a space for you and your family today!
Note:
Hurricane Ida is the second storm in recent FWW history that’s caused flooding of this magnitude. We understand that climate change is responsible for the intense storms we’ve experienced.
Due to extreme flooding at the Interpretive Center, this event will be held at The Discovery Center (, Phila., PA 19121).

POOL Opening / World Water Day
2022-03-22 12:00 - 17:00 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
POOL weaves together history, site-specific artwork, storytelling, scholarship and place-based learning.
The exhibit installations build on one another to illuminate a history of segregated swimming in America, and its connection to present-day drowning issues affecting Black communities.
Open Wednesdays – Fridays, 12pm – 5pm and Saturdays, 10am – 5pm.

POOL Exhibition
2022-03-23 - 2022-10-08 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States

RIPPLE EFFECT: Curator and Artists’ Tours
2022-05-28 11:00 - 11:30, 2022-05-28 12:30 - 13:00, 2022-06-11 11:00 - 11:30, 2022-06-11 12:30 - 13:00, 2022-06-25 11:00 - 11:30, 2022-06-25 12:30 - 13:00 | Fairmount Water Works, 640 Water Works Drive, Philadelphia, PA, 19130, United States
Personal guided tours of Ripple Effect: Ed Grusheski Memorial Exhibition featuring thirteen local artists. The artists careers span from emerging to seasoned and the show includes drawings, paintings, sculpture and b/w photography.

Ed Grusheski had a gentle yet persuasive positive manner that resulted in cultivating like minded friends, colleagues, and communities, inspiring them to become more actively concerned and committed to their personal use and care of land and water. Ed did this through promoting education of the history of our relationship of water and how the Fairmount Water Works came to be. The early 19th Century engineer Frederick Graff designed the Fairmount Water Works to more efficiently and safely supply Philadelphia’s water system infrastructure. Ed emphasized in his discussions and work why it is immensely important to preserve the history and legacy of the Fairmount Water Works and to assure its sustainable future.
