News & Press https://www.utahmuseums.org/news/default.asp Wed, 6 May 2026 14:57:53 GMT Fri, 6 Jun 2014 16:40:30 GMT Copyright © 2014 Utah Museums Association The Journey Has Begun. . . https://www.utahmuseums.org/news/news.asp?id=230237 https://www.utahmuseums.org/news/news.asp?id=230237 Journey Stories… Hopes and promises of fresh starts. Grim realities of forced migrations and difficult journeys. Thrills of personal travel.

On Saturday May 24, 2014 at the Museum of Moab, the ribbon was cut - actually a banner made of Utah road maps was burst through - to officially launch the Utah tour of Journey Stories, a Museum on Main Street (MoMS) traveling exhibition developed by the Smithsonian Institution and brought to Utah by the Utah Humanities Council (UHC). MoMS is a collaboration between the Smithsonian and State Humanities Councils nationwide, and is expressly designed to deliver Smithsonian content and high-quality educational events to underserved communities.For twenty years, UHC has been bringing MoMS exhibitions to Utah, and supporting small museums and other local organizations to host the exhibitions and develop accompanying programming. Plans are already underway for the next MoMS tour, so contact UHC to find out how your community can host an exciting Smithsonian exhibition!

The Utah Journey Stories Tour

Journey Stories explores how migration and transportation built our nation, how it has changed us, and how our mobile world looked to travelers along the way. Everyone has a journey story, and we will be hearing many of them this year as the exhibition travels to five Utah communities:

·     Museum of Moab, Moab - May 24 to July 11, 2014

·     Uintah County Western Heritage Museum, Vernal - July 19 to September 5, 2014

·     Utah Cultural Celebration Center, West Valley City - September 13 to October 24, 2014

·     Granary Art Center in partnership with Snow College Library, Ephraim - November 1, 2014 to January 9, 2015

·     Brigham City Museum of Art and History, Brigham City - January 17 to March 18, 2015

Each host site will create a local companion exhibit and develop a variety of public events that feature the history and heritage of their own communities. UHC has also partnered with the Utah Museum of Fine Arts to provide educational outreach programming through local schools and libraries (see their Journey Stories Traveling Museum Project at the Grand County Library in Moab).

You can learn more about the Utah tour of Journey Stories at http://www.utahhumanities.org/journeystories.htm

Hear Utah Journey Stories


We all know that Utah’s history is full of wonderful journey stories. Some are very familiar, while others are secret treasures. This tour is an opportunity to hear and share many of those under-told stories. For the duration of the Journey Stories tour, UHC is devoting its Beehive Archive weekly radio show to highlighting Utah journey stories, with each episode providing a two-minute look at some of the most “pivotal and peculiar events in Utah’s history.” The Beehive Archive recordings will be available online at Utah Journeys from the Beehive Archive, as well as via a multimedia kiosk at each host location during the exhibition tour.

Share Your Community’s Journey Stories

The opportunity to share Utah journey stories is not limited to organizations hosting the MoMS exhibition. Utah museums and other community organizations are welcome to take advantage of the Beehive Archive’s statewide microphone and contribute their own episodes to the Utah Journey Stories collection. To learn more about how to do this, contact Megan van Frank at vanfrank@utahhumanities.org or 801.359.9670. (You can also enjoy past episodes of the Beehive Archive at http://www.utahhumanities.org/BeehiveArchive.htm).

In addition to contributing to the Beehive Archive, there are many ways to collect and share your community’s journey stories, including ideas listed here: http://www.utahhumanities.org/journeystories_utah_resources.htm

Everyone Can Join the Conversation

A participatory opportunity for sharing Utah journey stories is available through an open Facebook group www.facebook.com/groups/UtahJourneyStories. This is an informal forum for individuals or organizations to share personal stories and photos, as well as links to articles, blogs, videos and other sites related to migration, mobility, transportation, or travel. Join this group and add your voice to this conversation about Utah journeys.

So, GET IN MOTION — Plan to see this wonderful exhibition at a town near you and participate in some of these great programs and activities. Share your stories through the Beehive Archive or the Utah Journey Stories Facebook group. And enjoy the Journey with this exhibition tour!

 

Karen Stark works with the Utah Humanities Council as the Museum on Main Street Program Assistant. Karen is a member of the UMA Board and is a passionate advocate for small museums incorporating engaging and professional museum practices.

 

Photos courtesy Karen Stark from the opening of Journey Stories in Moab. 

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