Colorado Water Stories specializes in art + science partnerships focused on water conservation, water stewardship, climate change, and celebrating water in our lives.
Mission
Background
Colorado Water Stories (CWS) facilitates interdisciplinary and collaborative community events, educational outreach, large-scale community projects, and internal organization training to support environmental stewardship through creative practices. Colorado Water Stories is an ongoing arts and environmental stewardship project that listens to and shares water stories. We build crosscultural, intergenerational, and cross-sector relationships around water knowledge that weave our community together, propelling us towards innovative planning and societal integrity. We accomplish this through facilitating interdisciplinary and collaborative community events, intergenerational educational outreach, large-scale community projects, and internal organization training.
CWS was started in 2024 by Maren Waldman, after 10+ years of directing nature-based projects at the intersection of dance, music, engineering, and science. Maren's previous core projects include:
Stories from the St Vrain (2021-2023): Lead facilitator of this two year, highly collaborative planning process culminating in a 6-month project featuring two large-scale, interdisciplinary community events, a kids' summer camp, outdoor children's movement classes, and an arts & public health graduate student research study.
Global Water Dances (2013-present): Directed dances for this international initiative that invites dancers to perform, all on the same day, to raise awareness about clean water access and local water issues.
Postcards to the Earth (2014-present): Founded a series of projects with the goal of tending the connection between humans and our natural environment. It is an online gallery, dance performance, film and interactive exhibit.
Maren Waldman (she/her) ~ Colorado Water Stories Founder/Director
Maren is an interdisciplinary artist and environmental educator. In 2021, she was selected to participate in the inaugural Arts + Science + Action training (CU Boulder + Boulder County Arts Alliance) focused on art/science collaboration for climate change communication. Maren earned her MFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from CU Boulder, holds a BA in cultural Anthropology from Haverford College, is a licensed massage therapist and has a certificate in Permaculture Design. She has offered dance classes, private lessons, and healing arts to her communities since 2007 and led the budding dance program at Front Range Community College for 5 years. For the past decade, Maren has developed her environmental arts projects: Global Water Dances, Postcards to the Earth, and Stories from the St Vrain. In 2024 she started Colorado Water Stories as an ongoing hub of interdisciplinary programs on water. Maren’s mission is to contribute to a future where care for Body and stewardship of Earth weave together to generate healing change.
Learn more at www.marenwaldman.com
Mimi Ferrie Lee (she/her) ~ Anima Arts & Dandelion Arts Collective
Mimi is a dance artist and founder of public health organizations Anima Arts and Dandelion Arts Collective, non-profits dedicated to advancing health equity through the arts. Mimi has worked in arts education for children and families for over twenty years and brings her passion for community building and health advancement through creative practices. She partners with social service organizations, artists, schools, libraries, families, public health organizations, and local governments to offer classes, workshops, and health events across Northern Colorado.
Learn more at dandelionartscollective.org and animaarts.org
Project Collaborators:
Image Credits: Parker Rice & Andrew Yang