CHRISTINA SCHMIGEL: In Our Town

Public opening reception for Christina Shmigel.

Whether adorning a building in NYC or marking a town along an interstate highway, the water tower has a strong hold on the collective imagination of Americans. As it stands alone in the distance, the tower speaks to a traveler’s sense of loneliness, to a sense of the stranger-passing-through. The water tower also announces the existence of a community and marks a place of settlement. As an image, it immediately triggers memories. Dear, familiar, half-forgotten: there’s always a story about the water tower “in our town…”