“Water Pilgrimage: Where the Rivers End” – THE RIVERS THAT FEED GREAT SALT LAKE –...

International award-winning nature photographer Linda Dalton Walker and nationally published poet and performance artist sarah ann woodbury [sic] spent the last year and a half identifying and journeying to the places where the Jordan River, Weber River, and Bear River flow into Great Salt Lake (GSL). As Utahns, the artists wanted to physically understand the movement of water to the lake, especially in the context of dramatically receding shorelines and potential ecological collapse. The artists documented these places of convergence in an effort not only to educate themselves, but to carry this information to other Utahns. Over a journey that lasted almost two years, they were changed by their findings. They had envisioned three sites where water met Great Salt Lake, but as they waded through mud and miles of shallow water, they witnessed the water flowing as complex deltas that were difficult to locate and nearly impossible to traverse. In some cases, the rivers were diverted so much, there wasn’t a solid point where each river met the lake.

The trek became far more complex than either artist imagined. To verify and document the places where the rivers “end,” they worked with several scientists and a long-time airboat owner deeply familiar with the lake and its waters. Most surprisingly, throughout their research, no one person could tell them where all three river entries into the lake were located. Their search led them across the multiple winding deltas, turning their plodding into a pilgrimage.

Their journey brought them to all kinds of land – and waterscapes – some places choked with non-native species, others spangled with garbage, one bursting with thousands of birds, another hosting a trigger-happy stranger, and most decked in shimmers and thick mud. The artists themselves unraveled into the landscape as they trudged countless miles, boots filled with cold water, swarms of bugs gnawing at their temples, and breath crystallizing on their hair,  all to find the places where the rivers give themselves to the body of Great Salt Lake. Through their miles observing the pilgrimage of water, the artists slowly became pilgrims themselves, densely decked in lenses, notebooks, found objects, mud, and awe.

With their pilgrimage complete, sarah and Linda will soon display their captivating photography and poetry. Step into this water pilgrimage through an upcoming exhibit at the UCCC. In addition to this display, six other local artists will join the exhibit to share their work dealing with Great Salt Lake.

Linda and sarah will host a public reception where they will present their pilgrimage through photography and poetry. During the reception, dancers, and musicians will join to showcase their work co-created with waters of the GSL Watershed. Also during the reception, three local lake-focused organizations will share what community members can do to respond to threats to our beloved Great Salt Lake.

Additional Artists:

Ash Gerlach – Photographer

Jeanne Hansen – Painter

Mary Perry – Photographer

Bill Petersen – Painter

Brekke Sjoblom – Painter

Doug Tolman – Photographer