Photo courtesy OCCC
Susanna Berryman, visual arts lab assistant, helps assist Scott Tigert, cultural programs assistant, with the “Flow” exhibit in Room 124 of the VPAC building. The exhibit opens June 16 and runs through Aug. 11.

An element with the power to both create and destroy, that is necessary to life yet is slowly disappearing, is water.

That also is the theme of an upcoming art show.

“Flow” opens June 16 and continues through Aug. 11 in the OCCC Art Gallery located in Room 124 of the VPAC building, said Lemuel Bardeguez, Cultural Programs director.

Admission is free and the gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.

According to an information guide about the exhibit, “Flow” explores the many meanings of water, highlighting the different uses and personas water has embodied in culture and in a physical sense.

The exhibit will be displayed in three parts.

The first will explore the power of water — its ability to swiftly destroy and, in the same breath, be used to create.

The second will look at water’s pivotal role to existence, reminding us of the substance that comprises 60 percent of the human body as well as its use as a fun pastime.

The third and final component is the conservation of water, showing its depletion and the abuse the human race has imposed upon the planet, as well as the dire need for and lack of water in many places throughout the world.

“It’s really exciting that OCCC has this exhibit,” said student Pauline Ha. “[Water is] the number one resource we should be concerned about.”

OCCC is the launching point for the national tour. “Flow” is typically housed in the Sheldon Museum of Art at the University of Nebraska.

The exhibit holds 29 works and incorporates many different forms of media and artists, according to the guide, and includes artists from the 1920s to 1990 with art forms varying from abstract expressionism to print photographs.

“It’s great from a purely aesthetic point of view for students to experience and is a very relevant topic” Bardeguez said. “Entire classes are encouraged to come and use the gallery academically.”

For more information, contact the Cultural Programs office at 405-682-7576, or visit The National Program of Mid-America Arts Alliance website at www.eusa.org.