Laboratory for the Future: Flow and Form

Guided Walkthrough: Laboratory for the Future with Artist Debra Scacco

The public is invited to join artist Debra Scacco for a guided walkthrough of Laboratory for the Future, an exhibition that encapsulates her work as the first civic-appointed Artist in Residence at the City of Santa Monica’s City Yards. From 2023 to 2025, Scacco collaborated with the Resource Recovery and Recycling Division and the Water Division of the Public Works Department to explore the city’s essential yet often unseen systems.

Laboratory for the Future presents two years of research and creative inquiry through a range of media — from site visits to wells and sanitation facilities to sculptures made with clay from local water well excavations and Pacific Ocean driftwood. The exhibition also features GIS-based and sculptural interpretations of Santa Monica’s water pathways, insights from Scacco’s research into compost and waste streams, and other works that illuminate the vital systems — and the people behind them — that sustain the city.

This guided tour offers a unique opportunity to experience how art, science, and civic engagement intersect in Scacco’s exploration of water, waste, and urban ecology.

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, the Percent for Art Program, and the City of Santa Monica Public Works Department.