Opening reception for "What It Means to Stay." Photography by Jeri Gravlin, along with stories collected by the Stay Salty: Lakefacing Stories podcast team. Exhibit runs April 13–June 1.
Team Statement
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. 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.
Quotes in photo captions have been edited for clarity and length. This is a work in progress. Over the next year, we will continue to collect more lakefacing stories. If you have a story to share or a tip, contact the team at lakefacing@gmail.com. Artist website: lakefacing.org
Team Biographies
Maria Archibald, Producer
Maria Archibald (she/her) has spent a decade organizing regionally and nationally with youth-led climate justice groups such as UYES and Uplift. She was previously the producer and host of the Sustain podcast with the University of Utah’s Sustainability Office.
Amelia Diehl, Producer
Amelia Diehl (she/her) is a writer, musician, and organizer with a background in community based storytelling and grassroots climate justice. She grew up in Michigan where the Great Lakes were foundational to her sense of belonging.
Ashley Finley, Event Curator
Ashley Finley (she/her) is a birth keeper, writer, speaker, yoga instructor, and educator. She is inspired by the ancestral wisdom of her foremothers, the ever-lasting beauty of nature, and the vivid imagination of a liberated future for marginalized people.
Meisei Gonzalez, Podcast Host
Meisei Gonzalez (he/him) is an environmental justice advocate and communicator based in Salt Lake City. As the Communications Director for HEAL Utah, he focuses on addressing environmental disparities faced by the Latino and LGBTQIA+ communities.
Jeri Gravlin, Photographer
Jeri Gravlin (she/her) is a Michigan-raised and now Salt Lake City-based photographer. Her mission is to tell stories through imagery that inspire positive change. She is the Salt Lake City Public Library’s Social Media Manager and Photographer.
Olivia Juarez, Podcast Host
Olivia Juarez (they/them) is a lifelong Utahn. They nurture Latino/a/e joy and leadership in conserving nuestra tierra pública with GreenLatinos and Latino Outdoors. They also produced and hosted Utah Silvestre, a bilingual mini-series of the Wild Utah podcast.
Brooke Larsen, Producer
Brooke Larsen (she/her) is a queer storyteller, journalist, and writer based in Salt Lake City. She currently writes for High Country News, and she is the co-editor of the book New World Coming: Frontline Voices on Pandemics, Uprisings, and Climate Crisis.
Katherine Quaid, Event Curator
Katherine Quaid (she/her) is a citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla. Her dedication to climate justice is tied to her ancestral lands and communities around the world fighting for a healthy future. She is the Communications Coordinator for the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network.
Frances Ngo, Visual Artist
Frances Ngo (she/her) is a queer artist, biologist, and proud multiracial Mexican and Chinese poet. She is a member of the Plumas Colectiva and works as a freelance artist and the Manager of Conservation Outreach at Tracy Aviary.
AGE GROUP: | All Ages | Adults |
EVENT TYPE: | Exhibits | Arts & Creativity |
NOTE: The Main Library's Rooftop Terrace is closed for renovations.
Salt Lake City's Main Library, designed by internationally-acclaimed architect Moshe Safdie in conjunction with VCBO Architecture, opened in February 2003 and remains one of the most architecturally unique structures in Utah. This striking 240,000 square-foot structure houses more than 500,000 books and other materials, yet serves as more than just a repository of books and computers. It reflects and engages the city's imagination and aspirations. The structure embraces a public plaza, with shops and services at ground level, reading galleries above, and a 300-seat auditorium.
A multi-level reading area along the Glass Lens at the southern facade of the building looks out onto the plaza with stunning views of the city and Wasatch Mountains beyond. Spiraling fireplaces on four floors resemble a column of flame from the vantage of 200 East and 400 South. The Urban Room between the Library and the Crescent Wall is a space for all seasons, generously endowed with daylight and open to magnificent views.
