Town Run is a small spring-fed stream which runs through Winchester, Virginia. It begins at Old Town Spring and is at first accessible as a small marsh preserve at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. Town Run flows through Winchester where it has been channelized and diverted into wooden pipes since the 19th century to supply water for the town, but can still be seen behind houses and under road bridges. Finally, Town Run converges with Wilkins Lake and Abrams Creek near Shenandoah University.

I was introduced to Town Run in my search for a place to conduct daily walks during an artist residency at the Peter Bullough Foundation in Winchester. I walked to the Shawnee Springs Preserve where the end of the channelized portion of Town Run is revealed in a secluded part of the park. This location became a near daily destination for reflection and art making. I was curious about the energy of the stream. Even in its channelized state, could the water flow fast enough to agitate the wool fibers and turn them into felt? I found stones near the edges of the stream and bound wool onto them with string. I placed the stones under water where the stream flowed fastest. I waited about a week, checking on them periodically. As the wool felted, it took up vegetation, mud, and small pebbles, becoming endemic to their environment while recording the action of the water over the course of a week. During a heavy rain the felts took up an especially large amount of vegetation, pebbles, and aquatic isopods. I did my best to safely return the isopods to the stream and cleared off larger pieces of plant matter, then gently washed the felts and dried them in the sun.

Sign prohibiting entering the water along the channelized portion of the stream

Muskrat swimming in a stream-fed pool of water, covered in invasive aquatic plants

Wool + stone after one day in the water