Photo By Jordan Raiff | The history of the Illinois River and the inclusion of Watershed Cairns is shared on...... read more read more
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, is currently hosting a temporary art exhibit at the Illinois Waterway Visitor Center titled Reversing Course: The Illinois River in 1900 and Today.
Created by Watershed Cairns® artists Libby Reuter and Joshua Rowan, the exhibit pairs historical black-and-white photographs with recent color images of glass sculptures placed at sites along the river. The work is part of a broader project the artists began in 2011 to draw attention to the streams, wetlands and rivers of the Mississippi River Watershed.
In 2022, the project expanded to include the Illinois, Des Plaines and Chicago rivers, exploring their link to Lake Michigan and the changes that followed construction of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in 1900.
“When we learned about the Watershed Cairns® exhibit, we thought it would be a great way to showcase the river’s history at our facility,” said Julie McDonald, a natural resource specialist at the visitor center.
To accommodate the exhibit, minor adjustments were made to the visitor center’s theater room, allowing for future use of the space for similar displays at minimal cost.
“We were looking for a way to enhance the use of our theater room,” said McDonald. “With the addition of some simple hardware, we now have a space suitable for hosting exhibits and rotating displays.”
The glass sculptures, known as cairns, are assembled from antique household glass collected by Reuter during her travels with Rowan. The cairn currently on display stands about three feet tall and is one of the largest in the artist’s collection.
Unlike traditional stone cairns, which can damage natural landscapes, Watershed Cairns are temporary. Each sculpture is assembled on site, photographed, and then removed.
“The exhibit exemplifies the golden rule of land management:leave no trace,” McDonald said.
The Reversing Course exhibit is open to the public daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through June 1. Admission is free.
The exhibit is part of a broader effort to engage the public and highlight USACE’s role in shaping the nation’s waterways. In 2025, the agency marks its 250th anniversary, commemorating a legacy of engineering, environmental stewardship, and public service. Exhibits like this reflect the Corps’ ongoing mission to manage and preserve water resources while connecting people to the history and future of America’s rivers.
| Date Taken: | 05.20.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.21.2025 15:43 |
| Story ID: | 498573 |
| Location: | OTTAWA, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 21 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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