What it Means to Stay: Lakefacing Stories Exhibit
What it Means to Stay: Lakefacing Stories Exhibit
If the Great Salt Lake Basin turns into a toxic dust bowl, will you stay? Many of us who live in the region may be forced to answer this question soon. Climate change-induced drought and unsustainable water use is sucking the lake dry. Dust storms carrying arsenic and other toxins from the dried lake bed blow into our lungs. Brine flies, brine shrimp, and birds are suffering and dying.
Yet, a spiritual and cultural awakening also simmers as people realize the importance of Great Salt Lake. Will this shift in collective consciousness be enough?
This multimedia storytelling project explores what it means to stay with Great Salt Lake through ecological collapse, climate crisis, and a public health disaster.
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 13th at 3-5pm at Salt Lake City Main Library, 210 E 400 S
Exhibit on display April 13 – June 1
We ask: Why stay? How to stay? And who gets to stay (or leave)? These questions are not new, just like this problem is not new. Rather, we find roots of the crisis in colonization: when settlers forcibly removed those Indigenous to this place and began diverting water away from the inland sea. Today, we tell the truth about our past while looking towards acts of repair, accountability, and love to chart a new path forward.
In this exhibit, you’ll find stories of incarcerated people, Indigenous elders, queer artists, people with disabilities, parents, youth, farmers, brine shrimpers, scientists, community organizers, and more. These stories bear witness while also offering reflections for how we cultivate a sustainable future. Photos include the storyteller with an object, relative, or place significant to them and their relationship with Great Salt Lake. As you listen, read, and see each story, we invite you to ponder your own story. Will you stay with the Great Salt Lake? And if yes, how?
This exhibit was made possible with funding support from Salt Lake City’s Arts, Culture, and Events (ACE) Fund and Utah Humanities.
Additional Details
Location City - Salt Lake City
Ticket Price - 0.00
Age Restriction - All Ages
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