Dumke Arts Plaza exhibit invites viewers to imagine a Utah sans Great Salt Lake
OGDEN, Utah — Dumke Arts Plaza will welcome the public to “This was water,” a new creative installation by local artists Kellie Bornhoft and Carey Campbell starting May 16.
Campbell described the piece as imagining a “not-so-distant future in which we will look out over a dry lakebed and tell our children of the thriving habitat that once was, perhaps telling them, ‘This was water.’”
The interactive and immersive art experience centers around the environmental crisis facing the Great Salt Lake. The exhibit is modeled after gypsum crystals — also known as “dirty diamonds” — that form in the lakebed where water levels continue to decline. Bornhoft considers them “little tombstones that poke up, these really beautiful artifacts of loss.”
Built with help from Weber State University students, the installation is funded by WSU’s Matthew S. Browning Design Lab and incorporates lidar technology, audio, and lighting that respond to the proximity of visitors.
Campbell describes the experience as “hard to miss.” The intent is to shift perspectives by changing the scale, so the tiny crystals and their story become the biggest focus.
Free to the public, the installation will run through April 30, 2026 at Dumke Arts Plaza, located at 445 25th Street in Ogden.
Special live performances will be held throughout the rest of this year: May 16, Sept. 5, and Nov. 7 starting at 6 p.m. A final performance will be held April 30, 2026.
Find the full event poster and more info on changes to the Great Salt Lake at the Shaw Gallery website.
Ashlee Ellinwood, Marketing & Communications
- Contact:
Bryan Magaña, public relations director
801-626-7948, bryanmagana@weber.edu