Utah Museum of Contemporary Art and Wake the Great Salt Lake Open Oscar Tuazon's Salt Lake Water School in Downtown Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY, June 26, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) is pleased to announce the opening of Salt Lake Water School, a new site-specific installation by artist Oscar Tuazon. Commissioned by UMOCA and installed in Abravanel Hall Plaza, the project brings Tuazon's long-running Water School initiative to Utah in response to one of the region's most urgent environmental crises: the future of the Great Salt Lake.

Salt Lake Water School is a modular sculptural structure that invites public engagement, dialogue, and reflection. Drawing on Indigenous knowledge systems and inspired by the cyclical movement of water, Tuazon treats water not just as a resource, but as a connector — linking people, land, and infrastructure. Combining architectural form with written elements, the work highlights the lake's environmental urgency, cultural significance, and economic role.

"UMOCA is an essential hub for contemporary art in Salt Lake City and an important voice for how art contributes to conversations of critical importance to our region," said Andrew Shaw, lead of the Wake the Great Salt Lake project. "UMOCA's placement of Tuazon's Salt Lake Water School in a highly visible downtown location, along with their line-up of engaging events, is sure to spark community conversations about restoring and preserving Great Salt Lake through collective action."

"With Salt Lake Water School, Oscar Tuazon offers a poetic yet urgent response to one of our region's most critical environmental challenges," said Laura Allred Hurtado, UMOCA Executive Director. "This project embodies UMOCA's mission to support artists whose work sparks dialogue and fosters connection."

"Tuazon's Salt Lake Water School is both a sculptural structure and a space for conversation," added Jared Steffensen, UMOCA Curator. "It invites people to slow down, step inside, and consider the landscape in a new way."

This project is made possible through generous support from Wake the Great Salt Lake, Salt Lake City Arts Council, Salt Lake City Mayor's Office, Bloomberg Philanthropies' Public Art Challenge, Powder Art Foundation, Salt Lake County Arts & Culture, Emerson Collective, and with support from Luhring Augustine, New York.

SOURCE Utah Museum of Contemporary Art