Laboratory for the Future: Woven Waters: Protection, Resistance, Renewal

Images: Emma Robbins, Blue Bird Wind Mill, 2020; Emma Robbins; Debra Scacco at Santa Monica City Hall; Debra Scacco tour of water infrastructure in 2024.

Join us for a powerful conversation with Diné (Navajo) artist and water protector Emma Robbins and City Yards resident artist Debra Scacco. For seven years, Emma served as Director of the Navajo Water Project at DigDeep Water. While there, she collaborated with communities to expand access to clean, running water to the one in three Navajo families without it. Leading this work through the challenges of COVID-19, she became a national voice highlighting the crisis of water inequity faced by First Peoples across the U.S. Her multimedia artworks educate viewers about issues like broken treaties and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis. Robbins is also the founder of The Chapter House, a community-based organization that cultivates cultivates Indigenous joy through art, performance, celebration, and collaboration. This conversation will explore how culture, community, and joy are critical to the difficult work of systemic change and resistance.

Laboratory for the Future is a project of City Yards Artist in Residence Debra Scacco, made possible by the city of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Division and Percent for Art program, and the city of Santa Monica Public Works Department. More about the project here.

Laboratory for the future events:

The Laboratory for the Future exhibit is on view at the Airport Arts Center Propeller Gallery, 3026 Airport Ave. 10/11/25 - 1/4/26, hours: Thursday - Sunday, 12-5pm.

10/11/25, 12-3pm: Opening Reception for Laboratory for the Future exhibit, Propeller Gallery

10/18/25, 11am-12:30pm: Composting session, following the 9-11am “Oh My Gourd” event and garden exploration, Ishihara Park Learning Garden, 2909 Exposition Blvd.

10/25/25, 12-2pm: Flow and Form: The Invisible Systems of Santa Monica, an artist talk and exhibit walkthrough with Debra Scacco, Propeller Gallery

11/1/25, 12-1:30pm: Woven Waters: Protection, Resistance, Renewal, a conversation with Emma Robbins (Diné Water Activist & Artist) and Debra Scacco, Propeller Gallery

1/3/26, 12-2pm: Exhibit closing event with Debra Scacco, Propeller Gallery

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Emma Robbins (Diné) is an artist, activist, and community organizer dedicated to empowering Indigenous communities. She is the founder and Executive Director of The Chapter House, an Indigenous arts and community space, and CEO of Planet Women, supporting femme-led conservation and human rights initiatives. For seven years, she led the Navajo Water Project, expanding access to clean water for Navajo families. Emma’s artwork, exhibited nationally and internationally, addresses issues like broken treaties and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis. She serves on the Arizona Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and is a senior Aspen Institute Fellow.

Interdisciplinary artist Debra Scacco investigates the ecological and cultural consequences of human activity. Fusing rigorous research with personal narrative, her work maps the histories of land, water, and the beings transformed by human intervention. She is the inaugural artist-in-residence at the city of Santa Monica Public Works (2023–25) and the first artist-in-residence at the Ellis Island Museum (2012). Scacco co-founded the Getty PST ART Climate Impact Program (2022–25) and founded the climate-focused residency Air Projects (2016–20). Her work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the City of Los Angeles, and the Durfee Foundation, featured in Art in America and the Los Angeles Times, and exhibited and collected internationally. More at https://www.debrascacco.com.

The Propeller Gallery at the Airport Arts Center, 3026 Airport Ave, hosts exhibitions and events throughout the year. By Bus, closest stop is Metro 44 SMC Bundy Campus, more frequent is Metro 14 at Airport and Bundy. Parking available onsite. Programs at Airport Arts Center are made possible by the Recreation and Arts Department.

Host or Publisher Santa Monica Cultural Affairs