Agua es Vida: Honoring Mothers and Water
Event description
- Arts and entertainment
- Family friendly
- Free
- Health and wellness
- Inclusion
- Open to the public
- Science
- Sustainability
Agua es Vida: Honoring Mothers and Water is a free, family-friendly event taking place Saturday, May 10, 2025, at the Nina Mason Pulliam Rio Salado Audubon Center. Held in celebration of Mother’s Day weekend and the 75th anniversary of the National Science Foundation (NSF), the interactive event blends science, art and culture to explore the essential connection between water, motherhood and community.
Guests can experience innovative technologies such as virtual reality headsets, enjoy cultural performances and participate in hands-on STEM activities and storytelling exhibits. Visitors are invited to discover Arizona’s water systems, share personal water stories and explore real-world solutions for water sustainability in fun and meaningful ways.
Open to the public and perfect for children of all ages, this event will feature a variety of STEAM activities including:
- Arizona Water Chatbot touchscreen kiosk designed to make water topics accessible and engaging.
- Arizona Water Myth and Fact Game invites visitors to test their water knowledge via touchscreen kiosk.
- Flow Forward: VR Headset Adventure demonstrates how water is cleaned, purified and tested.
- 360° Virtual Plant Tour explores a water treatment facility via touchscreen table.
- WaterSIMmersive Mixed-Reality Game enables users to travel through different water forms across Arizona to learn about the water cycle and conservation.
- And many other interactive exhibits!
This event is organized by Professor Claire Lauer in the School of Applied Professional Studies, Assistant Professor JoAnna Reyes in the School of Art, Assistant Professor Gilberto Lopez in the School of Transborder Studies and many others in the Arizona Water Innovation Initiative in ASU's Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory.
Liliana Caughman, assistant professor in American Indian Studies, and their team’s Water Stories Indigenous Research Cohort and Relate Lab are contributing water stories collected, protected and preserved from urban Indigenous and South Phoenix communities. The team is also bringing together a wide network of community partners for the event, including Fuerte Arts Movement, Cahokia, Phoenix Indian Center, Protectors of the Salt River, Diggs Wellness and several local musicians and performers.