The Warner Transportation Museum is proud to participate in the Flow Tuscaloosa project. Flow Tuscaloosa is an initiative to highlight the successful restoration of Hurricane Creek as inspiration to protect the resources of the Black Warrior River watershed and bring attention to environmental justice efforts in West Alabama.
It is being organized through the Selvage Collective and led locally by Jamey Grimes (UA, Art) and Dr. Julia Brock (The University of Alabama Department of History).
The museum is participating by hosting a custom exhibit titled Swimming Together and collaborating with artist Hannah Palmer of Atlanta, Georgia. Palmer works as an urban designer in Atlanta and is interested in the intersection of southern stories and urban landscapes. She is particularly interested in swimming pools and given the museum building’s original purpose and its location on the river is a perfect fit for this collaborative project. Palmer writes about the intersection of southern stories and urban landscapes for venues like CNN, Art Papers, Atlanta Magazine, ATL Studies, and for urban design and planning projects around the world. A graduate of Agnes Scott College, she earned an MFA in creative writing from Sewanee: The University of the South. Flight Path is her first book.
The exhibit will showcase how local history aligned with national trends, challenge myths about integration and public pools, and encourage community response about swimming with engagement boards. Swimsuits from The University of Alabama’s The Fashion Archive will be included in a custom interactive and artifacts on loan from members of the local community will be on display. The exhibit is slated to open April 19, 2022, and run through August 27.
We are also holding an opening event on the old pool grounds on Saturday, May 21, 2022, from 7:00 to 10:00 pm. An Evening at the Pool will provide an after-hours opportunity to visit the museum, to see the old pool illuminated with special lighting effects, and will be the culminating location of the Flow Tuscaloosa Lantern Parade. The event is free and open to the public. Food trucks will be present onsite. We invite everyone back to the old pool to remember past times and create new memories
The Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum is free to the public, open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10:00 am – 4:30 pm, and located at 1901 Jack Warner Parkway, Tuscaloosa, AL 35401.
For more information, please contact Katherine Edge at 205-248-4932 or kbedge@ua.edu.
Located at Tuscaloosa’s historic Queen City Park along the Black Warrior River, the Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum advances knowledge and appreciation of Tuscaloosa’s local and regional history and natural resources through exhibits, museum educational programs, and educational outreach efforts. The museum is a property of the City of Tuscaloosa and managed by The University of Alabama Museums.
The University of Alabama Museums, a division of the College of Arts and Sciences that encompasses five public museums, two research departments, and the Emmy-winning Discovering Alabama television program.