The Art & Water Space is A House Unbuilt’s studio, gallery, and public workspace—an incubator where artists develop the research, relationships, and creative work that shape our community-based archive.
The Art & Water Space is an incubator for the archival work at the core of our mission. It serves as a home base for artists to engage in the inquiry and observation that inform how we perform histories—grounded in everyday lived experience and the emotional currents that move beneath it.
We encourage embodied fieldwork, listening practices, and material investigation as methods of observation, activating these histories through exhibitions, installations, choreographies, and residencies. Through this work, the space generates living archives that serve as creative and educational resources for artists, researchers, and the public.
What happens in the Art & Water Space is not isolated. It is rhizomatically connected to our work in the field across the watershed—sometimes through the same artists who develop projects here, and sometimes through parallel initiatives we lead. The relationships formed in the space are central to our practice, built through sustained engagement and rooted in trust, reciprocity, and long-term investment.
How the Space Functions
Studio
Micro-Residencies + Project Lab
The Art & Water Space functions as a working studio where artists develop projects through our Micro-Residency program, which operates three times a year through an open call. Residents use the space to conduct research, experiment with materials, and engage the public through open studio hours.
It is also A House Unbuilt’s project lab—a site where ideas are generated, archival work is shaped, and new initiatives take form in real time.
Gallery
Curatorial Projects + Residency Exhibitions
The space operates as a gallery for rotating exhibitions, including resident artist projects and curated shows developed through both invitation and application. Exhibitions often evolve over time and are connected to larger investigations into water, place, and community.
Reading Room
Library + Quiet Public Use
The Art & Water Space includes a reading room with an eclectic, growing library spanning philosophy, anthropology, watershed studies, arts, craft, literature, instructional texts, and more. Visitors are invited to spend time reading, reflecting, and engaging with these materials during open hours.
We welcome contributions to the library, allowing it to grow through shared knowledge and community investment. Each exhibition is accompanied by a curated reading list, available in the space to further inform and deepen engagement with the work on view.
Community Space
Workshops + Convenings
The space hosts workshops, listening sessions, and public conversations that invite community members into the artistic process. These gatherings are sometimes developed independently and sometimes in direct connection with resident or exhibiting artists, but always contribute to the evolving archive at the center of our mission.
Visit the Art & Water Space
- Location: Stillwater, MN
- Hours: The Art & Water Space is open to the public during exhibitions, residencies, and scheduled programs. At other times, we welcome visits by appointment as part of our ongoing, process-based work.
- Contact: Call Victoria at 337-794-8222 or email: victoria@ahouseunbuilt.com.
- Accessibility: Elevator access is available on the Water Street side of the building (maps as 398 Water Street S). The entrance to the elevator is the second door off of Nelson and Water Street on the elevated sidewalk. The ramp onto the elevated sidewalk is North on Water Street at the end of the Antique Mall. We apologize for any inconvenience.