Salt Lake City, UT – November 1, 2024 – Craft Lake City and the Natural History Museum of Utah (NHMU) have teamed up to present “Local Voices: Orcas: Our Shared Future,” a free public art installation located on the streets of downtown Salt Lake City. This installation offers a preview of NHMU’s newest exhibition that dives into the complex and awe-inspiring world of orcas, and is designed to inspire the public to visit the museum in person to view the full, interactive exhibition, Orcas: Our Shared Future. Displayed in 4 steel frames along Broadway (300 S) between 200 West and 200 East, this outdoor installation will run through the end of December.
In line with NHMU’s mission to deepen understanding and appreciation of the natural world, “Local Voices: Orcas: Our Shared Future” presents alluring images of orcas alongside select permanent gem and fossil exhibits. This installation features a taste of the immense and interactive exhibition that celebrates these incredible mammals now on view at the Natural History Museum of Utah.
Since its founding in 1969, the Natural History Museum of Utah has provided a dedicated space for the study, collection and preservation of natural history. Their new exhibition, Orcas: Our Shared Future, running now until April 20, 2025, and much more can be viewed in full at the museum at 301 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84108.
Orcas: Our Shared Future highlights the profound influence of these magnificent apex predators on ecological systems and human culture through an engaging and interactive experience. The museum exhibition unravels the complex narrative of these iconic ocean mammals, revealing the layered relationship between orcas, Indigenous peoples and ecological activism through over 140 artifacts, including life-size replicas, fossil casts, multimedia displays and artwork from the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest inspired by orcas.
“Craft Lake City is thrilled to collaborate with the Natural History Museum of Utah on this meaningful preview of their full museum exhibition” says Craft Lake City Artisan & Programs Manager, Tiana Young, “This installation aligns beautifully with our mission to elevate Utah’s creative community through science, technology and art.”
“Local Voices: Orcas: Our Shared Future” in partnership with NHMU is open to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, free of charge. Visitors to the installation will have the opportunity to scan a QR code while viewing a sneak peak of the exhibition on the streets of downtown Salt Lake City. “Local Voices: Orcas: Our Shared Future” will be on display in 4 frames from November 1 to December 30, 2024.
With support from The Center for the Living City and The Temporary Museum of Permanent Change, Craft Lake City’s Local Voices installation series spotlights the inspiring work of Utah-based organizations in an effort to connect the community with ideas that matter. Craft Lake City curates this seasonal, rotating outdoor art exhibition for the Salt Lake community. The exhibits feature visually inspiring and interactive artwork meant to engage visitors and patrons. All Local Voices installations are displayed in fourteen metal frames along the sidewalks on the north and south sides of Broadway (300 South) between 200 E and 200 W in downtown Salt Lake City.
For more information about this installation, please visit: craftlakecity.com/local-voices/orcas-our-shared-future/
To learn more about the Natural History Museum of Utah and their new exhibition, please visit: https://nhmu.utah.edu/exhibitions/orcas-our-shared-future
About Craft Lake City:
Craft Lake City’s year-round programming is supported in part by the residents of Salt Lake County through the Zoo, Arts & Parks (ZAP) Program, the Salt Lake Arts Council, the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, and Utah Arts & Museums, with funding from the State of Utah and the National Endowment for the Arts.
About the Natural History Museum of Utah:
The Natural History Museum of Utah is one of the leading scientific research and cultural institutions in the country. Established in 1963, the museum’s 10 permanent exhibitions are anchored by its state-of-the-art collections and research facilities containing almost 2 million objects. These collections are used in studies on geological, biological, and cultural diversity, and the history of living systems and human cultures within the Utah region. The museum hosts approximately 300,000 general visitors a year and provides one of the most spectacular private event settings in the Salt Lake City area. NHMU also broadens the reach of its mission through a variety of science-based outreach programs to communities and schools throughout Utah, reaching every school district in the state every other year.
About the Temporary Museum of Permanent Change:
The Temporary Museum of Permanent Change is a community based, participatory project that uses the ever-changing development processes underway in Salt Lake City as catalysts to animate city life. The Museum engages a variety of audiences using a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach that includes performance art and video production, visual art, urban archaeology, anthropology, local history, existing businesses and ongoing deconstruction and construction processes as spectacles for people of all ages. Together these elements provide teachable moments in our efforts to manage and celebrate change. This museum has no specific address. Rather it is a construction of ideas, installations and illuminations that comprise a new way of seeing our city. museumofchange.org
About the Center for Living City:
The Center for the Living City advocates for vibrant, adaptive, equitable communities created by and for everyone. We work to inspire civic engagement and leadership, invite creative urban solutions, and expand our understanding of the ecology of cities. Our purpose is to advance social, environmental and economic justice. centerforthelivingcity.org @_whatwesee_