Kellie Bornhoft’s interactive sculptural installation, By a Thread, will be exhibited at Westminster University’s Meldrum Science Center Foyer from October 29–November 25, 2024. This exhibition will be the first public installation of work from Wake the Great Salt Lake, a temporary public art project that aims to educate and inspire residents and visitors to understand and prevent the further decline of the Great Salt Lake. The project is a partnership of the Salt Lake City Arts Council, the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office, and Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Public Art Challenge, with support from the John and Marcia Price Family Foundation.
Bornhoft’s By a Thread features illustrations of 64 plants and animals from the Great Salt Lake ecosystem printed on sheer fabric and installed as banners that the viewer can touch and move. Unfinished edges of the fabric incorporate a sense of how delicate the ecosystem is, that it can unravel without care from our community. Without action, the collapse of the Great Salt Lake would have major implications for the ecology and economy of the city, state, and region.
The illustrations Bornhoft created for By a Thread will be made freely available for researchers, artists, and others to use and repurpose. This act of creative sharing will expand Bornhoft’s contribution to the Great Salt Lake cause in unexpected ways for years to come.
Several of Bornhoft’s illustrations depict newly discovered species that have had no previous images associated with them, including a kangaroo rat endemic to one the Lake’s islands and a newly discovered species of algae current nicknamed “frilly boi.” Bornhoft has worked with Dr. Bonnie Baxter at the Great Salt Lake Institute at Westminster University and Paul Thompson and John Luft from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to learn about the species that rely on the Lake.
The By a Thread exhibition will be open to the public October 29 through November 25 with a public reception on Tuesday, October 29, from 4-7pm. The installation will be in the Meldrum Science Center Foyer on the Westminster University campus (1840 South 1300 East).
By a Thread is one of more than a dozen artworks and art experiences associated with the Wake the Great Salt Lake project, which will use art to address the Lake's decline by increasing understanding of the crisis and motivating action toward solutions. Wake the Great Salt Lake will feature a diverse range of artistic styles, genres, and audiences, including a large installation from an internationally renowned artist. The project will engage every Salt Lake City Council district with artistic activations. Other artists and organizations preparing work for Wake the Great Salt Lake include Nicholas Carpenter, Stefan Lesueur, Nick Pedersen, Valene Peratrovich, Mitsu Salmon, Mestizo Institute of Culture and Arts (MICA), Of Salt and Sand, Plan-B Theatre Company, Spy Hop Productions, and Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA).
Wake the Great Salt Lake is part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge which brings together mayors, residents, and artists to develop innovative, temporary public art projects that address important civic issues in their communities. In 2023, Bloomberg Philanthropies selected Salt Lake City as one of eight cities across the U.S. to receive a $1 million Public Art Challenge grant for Wake the Great Salt Lake.
To follow along, visit wakegsl.org and sign up for the mailing list for updates.
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About Kellie Bornhoft
Kellie Bornhoft is a visual artist who utilizes sculpture, installation, and video to delve into the whelms of our precarious times in an ever-warming climate. Her interactive work bridges the gap between hard-to-grasp facts and personal engagement with one’s environ. She lives in Ogden where she is an Assistant Professor at Weber State University. She is currently an Artist in Residence at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA).
About Salt Lake City Arts Council
The mission of the Arts Council is to promote, present, and support artists, arts organizations, and arts activities in order to further the development of the arts community and to benefit the public by expanding awareness, access, and participation.
About the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office
Salt Lake City is the capital and most populous city in Utah, the fastest-growing state in the country. As the hub of the economy, the arts, and sports for the region, Salt Lake City is committed to fostering an inclusive, innovative, and sustainable community.
With a focus on quality of life, Salt Lake City continues to be a destination for both residents and visitors alike, having hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics and welcoming the world again for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. An elected mayor, who serves as the chief executive, and seven part-time City Council members govern the City. For more information, visit slc.gov.
About the Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge
The Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge brings together mayors, residents, and artists to develop temporary public art projects that address important civic issues in their communities. In 2022, Bloomberg Philanthropies invited mayors of U.S. cities with 30,000 residents or more to apply for up to $1 million in funding to create temporary public art projects that address important civic issues and demonstrate an ability to generate public-private collaborations, celebrate creativity and urban identity, and strengthen local economies. More than 150 cities from 40 U.S. states applied. Bloomberg Philanthropies selected eight winning cities to develop projects focused on challenges related to climate change, equity, food insecurity, gun violence, homelessness, public health, and revitalization. Since launching in 2014, the Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge has spurred more than $100 million in economic benefits for participating cities and action across a range of civic issues. For more information, please visit publicartchallenge.bloomberg.org.
