#frontierfellowship

I took some test photographs of the specimens I’ve been collecting from different mines and geological sites. From top down: minerals and water from the Crystal Geyser, un-oxidized rocks from Moab, coal from the Castlegate Mine in Helper, potash crystals from the potash ponds in Moab and refined potash from outside the Intrepid potash mine in Moab.

I don’t have too much to update on except I’m full steam ahead. I’ve got a plan on how to get it all together the next two weeks. This week, I am mostly going to be working on my quilt, as well as soliciting rock samples from local residents that I will document. I also have to go back to Moab to buy fabric, and want to head towards Hanksville to collect some rocks and document some mines out there.

Oh, I did also visit the Western Mining and Railroad Museum in Helper, UT yesterday. I was most taken by the exhibits about mining tragedies. In the 80′s, one middle school student made a diorama of where all of the dead bodies were found within this one mine. We also visited this graveyard that was on the coal mine property. It was unique for a lot of reasons, but most particularly, there were rows of crosses with the same date, which was also the day of the Castle Creek Mining Disaster. 

Well, it looks like I finally hit my stride today, and what is great news for me is that I still have 19 days left in my residency. So, I design-strategized my art piece which is: a digital Exhibit that is part of the Museum of Natural History and the Human Condition (which is also my creation). 

I have a google doc that is more or less my working document. While it makes me kind of uncomfortable to share such an unrefined document, some of you out there might think it’s kind of interesting! Take a peek, and maybe check back later. I imagine I’ll be working in there a lot.

Today was a field day. After lots of research this week, I made a well-informed trip out to Moab and explored three different mining-related sites. First, I visited the relocation site for the Uranium Tailings originally located in the Atlas Mine, which is literally across the street from the entrance of Arches National Park. The tailings site is still very active and security was on lock: the only road to the site was gated with TWO surveillance cameras. 

Then to the Atlas Mine, which is tucked in between the main 191 highway and Potash Road. Along potash road, you can get some great views into what was once a very active Uranium mine. The site is relatively uneventful except for this giant stash of... old mining tools?

16 miles on the Potash road later, I finally hit my mine heartthrob: Intrepid Potash, once known as the Cane Creek Mine from the potash division of Texas Gulf Sulphur Company. This mine is known for two things: it’s mesmerizing blue tailing ponds that can be seen from Dead Horse Point State Park and the Cane Creek Disaster from 1963.  

A Call to Place: The First Five Years of the Frontier Fellowship is a retrospective of the work thus far made in Epicenter’s visiting artist program. I’ll have some work in it that I’ve done over the years in Green River, and so will a bunch of the artists who have visited since 2011.

It opens in Salt Lake City on March 18, and will be up for two months. Plz go see it if you’re in the area! It’s at the Rio Grande Gallery, which is a gallery run b the Utah Department of Arts and Heritage. Here is a link.

“We’re delighted to celebrate and reflect on one of our most stunning rural communities in Utah” said Gay Cookson Utah Arts & Museums Director, “Epicenter, and the respective fellows, are playing an important role in their community while expanding the boundaries of how we thing about art making. Undoubtedly the contributions and perspective offered by these visiting artists will make a lasting impact.”