We Are All Water

In this exhibition, Youth-In-Custody (YIC) students worked with STEMCAP to think creatively about water as a unifying element: a finite resource that connects all living things. Students discussed water issues specific to Utah, and the impact of individuals on shared waterways. STEMCAP workshops focused on drought, climate change, pollution, and water scarcity in the Great Salt Lake (GSL) basin. Students were asked to reflect on the importance of water as a shared resource and think about the ways that water and environmental health impact their communities.

As the lake dries, toxins from the lakebed are exposed and infiltrate the air that we breathe here in Salt Lake City. Neighborhoods on the west side, already experiencing the worst air quality in the state, will likely experience the greatest increase in the concentration of harmful chemicals in the air. In recognizing the environmental injustices associated with water usage in the GSL basin, students thought critically about the causes of environmental harm and the inequitable distribution of the resulting human health consequences. Some students felt empowered to speak up for their community by advocating for stewardship of our water resources. Other students reflected on the ways in which unequal resource distribution affects their lives and the lives of their friends and family, seeing themselves akin to the GSL.

Katie Seastrand, an art educator from the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, guided students in representing themselves and the things they hold dear through the creation of self-portraits that go beyond their physical appearance. Many students chose not to include their faces in their portraits. Students marbled paper using food dye and shaving cream and were given map segments of the river that flows closest to their youth center to use as templates for integrating the dyed paper as a representation of a GSL tributary river. Students also collaborated to tie-dye large pieces of cloth representing the collective impact human communities have on water bodies and the mark—negative or positive—we can each leave on our environment.

The exhibit is designed to provide YIC students the chance to represent themselves beyond their identity as incarcerated young people while emphasizing the way that the drying GSL affects and connects Northern Utah residents from diverse and, in some cases, obfuscated communities. Like the water, community support and resources are often used up before they reach the most marginalized members of the Wasatch Front. Despite the name of Utah’s state capital, the Great Salt Lake has long been an afterthought, drawing widespread attention only when its exposed lakebed threatens the health and economy of Northern Utah’s human communities. Some YIC students shared the ways they see themselves in this story.

The exhibit features artwork from students at Farmington Bay, Decker Lake, Salt Lake Valley, Slate Canyon, and Mill Creek youth centers. Student artists were in state custody when they created their pieces. Most students were in long-term Secure Care facilities. We ask you to reflect on the connections—and marginalization—within your community and the role that the watershed plays in creating a healthy livable community. What would you do if the Great Salt Lake disappeared?