Museums in Utah

Utah is home to a wide range of museums, which inform, educate, and fascinate the general public. From the newly opened Natural History Museum of Utah to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Utah is home to a range of world class museums intended to engage and educate people about our state and our world.

ART

Museums and art galleries, in cities large and small, showcase visual art collections from the representational to the abstract. The Utah Museum of Fine Arts at the University of Utah is the largest art museum in the Intermountain West. Its collection includes more than 18,000 works of art: paintings, sculpture, photography, mixed media, and works on paper, from across the globe. Utah's first museum for the visual arts, the Springville Museum of Art, houses more than 2,000 works, 1,500 of which are created by artists who call Utah home. Its works are representative of over 150 years of Utah fine art. The museum includes 29 galleries and a sculpture garden. For those interested in Utah's current art scene, the Salt Lake City Gallery Stroll, an average of 15 galleries participate each month. The Gallery Stroll commonly features works from many of Utah's greatest currently working artists and broad spectrum of artistic media and expression. Utah has a vibrant art culture of many talented artists, galleries, and museums.

CULTURE AND HISTORY

Utah's rich prehistory and geology make it a hotbed for fascinating dinosaur fossils, ancient Native American artifacts, and a geologist's haven of incredible natural phenomena to inspire wonder and study. The newly opened Rio Tinto Center, which serves as the new home for the Natural History Museum of Utah is an excellent starting point for any visit to the state of Utah. The perspective and insight it lends on the state of Utah thoroughly enriches an experience of the state's National and State Parks, soaring mountains and enchanted deserts. The encouraged starting point of the museum is aptly named, "Trailhead to Utah."

A fantastic new museum in Salt Lake City, the Leonardo, is a great place to bring the whole family. It's "a fusion of art, science, and technology," sure to engage adults and their kids. The museum contains much more than exhibits to look at. It truly invites visitors to be a participant in thinking through and solving problems. It inspires minds with scientific innovations and a look at how these innovations work. It's a place for community workshops and life labs where visitors may have the opportunity to mingle with scientists, thinkers, philosophers, creators, and artists.

DINOSAURS

Utah is dinosaur country. For many millions of years, the state's enchanted desert landscape held within it a fascinating and rich record of time in the form of dinosaur fossils. Utah contains, arguably, the best Mesozoic Era rock record on the planet. Dinosaur National Monument and the Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry are both found within the Morrison Formation, which has yielded the vast majority of Utah's well-known dinosaur fossils. Dating back as far as 150 millions years ago, these dinosaur fossils were a part of the Late Jurassic Era. The Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry is famous for the great number of Allosaurus fossils that have been discovered there. Arguably, Utah's most dramatic dinosaur display is found at the Quarry Visitor Center at the Dinosaur National Monument. More than 2,000 fossils are preserved in a 200-foot long wall, which was part of an ancient river sandbar.

In addition, the Cedar Mountain Formation, which overlies the Morrison Formation, is representative of longer time span and has yielded several entirely different dinosaur groups. Late Cretaceous dinosaurs, including Tyrannosaurus Rex and Torosaurus, have been discovered in the Horn Formation in Central Utah, and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM). GSENM is home to the most continuous record of Late Cretaceous Era dinosaurs, which thrived at the end of the age of dinosaurs (approx. 65 million years ago) in the world. Within GSENM, current research is beginning to shed light on previously unknown Utah dinosaurs.

Many of Utah's museums are devoted to preserving the heritage and culture of our state. Preserved Artifacts, exhibits, photographs and more, all help to bring back a fascinating time period in the American West.

Most cities and towns in Utah also have Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Museums. These assorted collections include wonderful treasures. Inquire locally for details.

For a detailed list of Utah's Museums contact the Utah Division of Arts & Museums, (801) 236-7555, or visit www.utahmuseums.org/museum-directory.