Dazzling Art Inspires People To Save Utah’s Shrinking Great Salt Lake

LifestyleTravelDazzling Art Inspires People To Save Utah’s Shrinking Great Salt LakeByBrianna Randall,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Brianna Randall writes about the intersection of travel and science.Follow AuthorApr 27, 2026, 02:48pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.A public art installation called “A symphony of disappearing sounds for the Great Salt Lake,” by Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson in Memory Grove in Salt Lake City, Utah on Mar. 26, 2026.Kim Raff for Salt Lake City Arts CouncilA series of public art projects in Utah are bringing the Great Salt Lake to life.As the lake shrinks, it threatens the region’s air quality, economy and wildlife.Art can inspire people to take action to save the disappearing Great Salt Lake.As dusk fell in downtown Salt Lake City, I joined thousands of people streaming into Memory Grove Park below the Utah State Capitol. The draw? A two-story-high white sphere surrounded by powerful speakers.The park was about to light up in a kaleidoscope of colors and sounds as part of a free public art installation called A Symphony of Disappearing Sounds for the Great Salt Lake.My jaw dropped as the show began. The sphere glowed in a swirl of mesmerizing patterns, moving in time to layers of pulsing sound. I could pick out the calls of shorebirds, the buzz of insects, the wind through aspen leaves and the bass of hooves. Public art projects like this visual and sound installation in Salt Lake City can help change people's hearts and minds about environmental crises.Marielle Scott for Salt Lake City Arts CouncilThis dazzling half-hour spectacle was more than simply a fun night out—it served as a response to one of the American West’s most pressing environmental crises. The Great Salt Lake has shrunk to less than half its historic size, threatening air quality, wildlife habitat and regional indu...