POOL: A SOCIAL HISTORY OF SEGREGATION Honored With Awards And An Emmy Nomination

Pool: A Social History of Segregation (POOL) Exhibition has been met with overwhelming support, and as it has touched so many people, management for the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center (FWWIC) has extended the exhibition for an additional week. For those who would like to revisit, or have not yet experienced the award-winning exhibition, it will now be open through October 8, 2022 during the following hours:

Tuesday October 4 - 10:00 am- 5:00 pm

Wednesday, October 5 - 10:00 am- 5:00 pm

Thursday, October 6 -10:00 am- 5:00 pm

Friday, October 7 - 10:00 am- 5:00 pm

Saturday, October 8 - 10:00 am- 5:00 pm

The POOL exhibition, which was conceived, designed and curated by Victoria Prizzia of Habitheque, has hosted 6,100 visitors since opening this past March following a sixth-month clean-up and partial restoration due to flooding from Hurricane Ida just a day prior to the planned opening in September, 2021. Plans are in place to reopen POOL March - September, 2023. Constructed in and around the former Fairmount Water Works Kelly Pool, the site is located at 640 Waterworks Dr. in Philadelphia. Limited free parking is available on Waterworks Dr., and for a fee at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

During its initial six month run, POOL, Habitheque, and the FWWIC have been honored as the recipient of the Making an Impact Award by the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums. The award will be presented at the MAAM Annual Meeting on October 10 in Washington D.C. FWWIC Executive Director Karen Young plans to accept the award, along with representatives for Diversity In Aquatics, the international organization devoted to water safety and equal access, which nominated the exhibition. According to Young "We are humbled and honored at not only the recognition POOL has received, but by the impact on the thousands of visitors that have come to experience the exhibition. POOL has sparked meaningful dialogue amongst people of all ages and backgrounds, proving that the project is much needed and has accomplished precisely what we hoped it would, engaging and building community. We're thrilled to keep the momentum going not just over the next week, but again in 2023."

POOL was also highlighted by PBS station WHYY TV and received a Mid Atlantic Emmy nomination for the WHYY Movers & Shakers story produced by Monica Rogozinski. A viewer, Joy Barnes Johnson, shared: "This is such an important piece of the story of the region, the city and the ways that we are. Thank you for this."

The exhibition and the Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center were honored with the Pennsylvania Environmental Council's 2022 Special Places Award. Habitheque also received an honorable mention in the Social Justice category in Fast Company's 2022 Innovation by Design Awards at a reception in New York City in September.

Through multi-disciplinary artworks, storytelling, and place-based learning, "Pool: A Social History of Segregation," explores the connection between water, social justice and public health. A museum exhibition showcased in and around the former Kelly Pool in the Fairmount Water Works, POOL was conceived, designed and curated by Victoria Prizzia of Habitheque, and made possible with major support provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, with additional support from the Philadelphia Water Department, the Fund for the Fairmount Water Works, and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation. POOL explores the impact of segregated public pools on generations of Blacks in America and invites visitors to voice their own experiences and feelings about public swimming. Visit the immersive museum exhibition and meet some of the artists who brought it to life. Learn more at http://poolphl.com/.

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