Hidden River

Don Wilkison aka m.o.i., The Minister of Information

Georgetown Wet Weather Treatment Station and Rainier Valley Wet Weather Storage

Don Wilkison's Hidden River considers the invisible architecture of wastewater treatment through a series of outdoor visuals and public events highlighting clean-water efforts. The work will be implemented in August and September 2023 at the Duwamish River Festival, the Othello Park International Festival, and two King County Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD) sites: the Georgetown Wet Weather Treatment Station and Rainier Valley Wet Weather Storage facility.

Hidden River includes multiple components: Downstream, a set of four unique poster designs, will hang from a drop structure under the First Avenue South Bridge connected to the Georgetown site. Midstream, a custom banner, will be installed at the Rainier Valley location. And Headwaters, a series of free public events, will provide clean water information as well as artist-designed packets of pollinator seeds with planting instructions.

Wilkison's artworks and programming are an extension of the “Hidden Rivers/Invisible Architecture” theme devised by Sans façon in their groundbreaking art plan for WTD’s Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) system.

Wilkison (aka m.o.i., The Minister of Information) roots his art practice in active experimentation, informed by his background as a scientist. Based in Kansas City, MO, he works in a variety of approaches and media, including collaborative public installations and interventions, performance, experimental film, printmaking, and sculpture. His civic engagements lie at the intersection of environmentalism, middle-class economics, and progressive politics, and he's published and spoken extensively about this work.