Rural Utah is at a Crossroads
The story of rural Utah is one of cherished ideals coupled with challenging realities. Contemporary pressures that drive change may seem daunting, yet adaptation has always been core to rural life. What changes are occurring in the rural places that you know?
Crossroads: Change in Rural America
Crossroads is a traveling exhibition created by the Smithsonian Institution and brought to you by Utah Humanities to explore the past, present, and future of rural communities.
Power: Labor in Utah's Coal Country
Local companion to Crossroads, this exhibit focuses on rural labor and how Price area mining built a unique, multi-ethnic community.
Sacred Spaces in a Changing Landscape
Featuring local artist Terry Willis, each painting is an effort to seize the moment of awe-inspiring beauty and allow the viewer to give the scene their own meaning.
Details
January 20 - March 3, 2024
EXHIBITIONS & FREE ACTIVITIES ALL AROUND PRICE
Crossroads: Changing in Rural America is part of Museum on Main Street, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and Utah Humanities, touring in partnership with Utah State University Eastern.
Join us for FREE activities around PRICE!
Crossroads Exhibition Grand Opening & Reception
January 20
5:30 - 7:30 pm
USU Eastern
Student Center
Join USU Eastern and our community partners to welcome the Smithsonian exhibition Crossroads: Change in Rural America to Price! Enjoy hors d’oeuvres and local music as you peruse the exhibition. Short remarks at 6:00pm.
The Missing Morningstar and Other Stories
Storytelling with Stacie Denetsosie
January 25
7:00 - 8:00 pm
USU Eastern
Student Center - Alumni Room
Come hear Navajo writer Stacie Denetsosie share vivid and imaginative stories about Diné people ranging from a gas station clerk who witnesses a kidnapping to a young man who hitches a ride home with his dead grandfather’s casket. These stories will make you laugh and cry. Snacks provided. Door Prizes. In partnership with USU English Department.
Rural Utah Crossroads Story Reading Project
Interviews with Utah Public Radio
January 26 & 27
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
USU Eastern
Student Center - Board Room
Join Utah Public Radio for an interview about the joys and challenges of rural life, and also help contribute to the oral history collection of the USU Eastern Library. Sign up for an interview.
Trivia Night
Local History
January 31
7:00 - 8:30 pm
Juniper Pizza Café
150 N. Hospital Drive, Price
Join us for a night of pizza and trivia that focuses on the history of Castle Country. Team maximum is 6 people.
Community Conversation
with Representative John Curtis
February 2
12:00 pm
USU Eastern
Student Center - Multipurpose Room
Join us for a conversation with invited community leaders to engage in a discussion about the joys and challenges of rural life. Questions will be cultivated from the Crossroads exhibit, and Rep. John Curtis will offer a response. Snacks provided. Door Prizes.
Make Your Own Community
Utah Museum of Fine Arts Family Drop-In Activity
February 5
5:00 - 7:00 pm
USU Eastern
Student Center - Multipurpose Room
Be inspired by the houses and businesses in your community to make a sculpture of your street, neighborhood, or city. What do you want your community to look like in the future? Using wood blocks and markers, you will get to design a small community of your own! Snacks!
Things I Didn't Do
A reading with Karin Anderson
February 8, 2024
7:00 - 8:00 pm
USU Eastern
Student Center - Alumni Room
Join fiction writer Karin Anderson as she talks about and reads from her upcoming book, Things I Didn’t Do, which is set in Carbon and Emery Counties. Her most recent book is What Falls Away. Snacks provided. Door Prizes.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Film Screening
February 9
7:00 - 9:00 pm
King Coal Theater
1171 E. Main, Price
Join us for a showing of the 1969 classic film featuring Robert Redford and Paul Newman about the friendship between the two main bandits of the Wild Bunch Gang, whose major hideout was located in a remote corner of Emery County. Rated PG. Free popcorn!
Wild Horses
Advocating for Rural Change through Urban Youth Experiences
February 13
7:00 - 8:00 pm
USU Eastern
Student Center - Alumni Room
Wild horses and burros are a Western icon, but their place in rural and wild landscapes is a contentious issue. Join wild horse expert Steven Price to learn more about wild horses on public land and how horse camp helps educate urban youth's perspectives of “healthy lands, healthy horses”. Sponsored by USU Extension. Snacks. Door Prizes.
The Mormon Kid
The Life of Matt Warner, Last of the Bandit Raiders
February 15
7:00 - 9:00 pm
USU Eastern
Central Instruction Building - Black Box Theater
This one-man theatrical production from Morgan Lund focuses on the outlaw Matt Warner, a young Mormon settler, who hones his criminal skills and instincts until at last he breaks out into the world and begins his cowboy outlaw career. He eventually becomes sheriff of Carbon County. Sponsored by USU Theater Department. Free Popcorn.
Conjuring Ghost Towns
An Evening with Helper Poet Laureate
February 21
7:00 - 8:30 pm
USU Eastern
Student Center - Alumni Room
Join Olivia Dudding Rodriguez, the Poet Laureate of Helper, UT, for a poetry reading and community writing workshop that explores the hidden histories of rural places and our imagination. Snacks.
The Last Wild Buffalos
Blue Grass Band
February 23
8:00 - 10:00 pm
USU Eastern
Student Center - Multipurpose Room
Join us for a fun night of dancing and singing to the “newgrass” bluegrass sounds of the Last Wild Buffalo, a band focused on bringing lovers of the outdoors together with lovers of music to redefine what it means to experience music within nature. Sponsored by USU Student Life.
Drop-In Scan & Share Activity
with the Local History Society
February 24
11:00 am- 3:00 pm
USU Eastern
Student Center - Multipurpose Room
Want to preserve and share your history? Experts from the Utah Historical Society will help Carbon County seniors, adults, and young adults preserve and share their photos, letters, recipes, and other historical materials that represent their heritage. Participants will learn about their items, how to preserve them, and create digital copies that will become part of The Peoples of Utah Revisited online collection. Snacks provided.
Rural Utah at a Crossroads
Talk with Gregory E. Smoak (University of Utah)
February 29
7:00 - 9:00 pm
USU Eastern
Student Center - Alumni Room
Join historian Greg Smoak (state scholar for the Crossroads exhibition) on an exploration of the tensions between the ideals and realities of life in rural Utah as change – past and present – affects our communities. This presentation will encourage thinking and conversations about rural Utah and our own community. Snacks provided. Door Prizes.
Crossroads Community Celebration
March 2
6:00 - 8:00 pm
USU Eastern
Student Center - Multipurpose Room
Join us for a community celebration for the whole family as we close the Crossroads exhibit. There will be music, food trucks, indoor bounce house, and games.