Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Muse Spring 2019”
Utah’s libraries and schools are investing in 21st-century technology to attract a new generation of problem solvers. By Ellen Fagg Weist In an old vault in a renovated bank building rests Minersville Library’s secret weapon: a new 3-D printer. “It gives our little library a little wow factor,” says librarian Shannon Terry. The rural Beaver County library (in a town …
The art of making fused-glass tiles connects science lessons to real life By Ellen Fagg Weist Like any good art project, the fused-glass workshop at Montezuma Creek Elementary School was anchored in careful planning. Under the direction of glass artist Carrie Trenholm, students first worked out their design ideas on a small square of construction paper. Each class’s art assignments …
By Michelle James | Illustrations by Kerry Shaw Visiting the Golden Spike National Historic Park is a great way to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the meeting of the Union and Central Pacific railroads. It’s also a great launch pad for an exploration of Utah’s dynamic railroad history, which can include historic depots, exhibits of old streetcars, firsthand looks at …
Beth Krensky is inspired to make art out of kites, nightgowns and her cultural memories By Ellen Fagg Weist | Photography (c) Josh Blumental, 2018 Fractured. That’s how Utah artist Beth Krensky felt emotionally. This was a few years ago, when she was burned out from juggling artmaking, teaching and parenting. She had written a book, 2009’s “Engaging Classrooms and …
With sly wit, Utah Poet Laureate Paisley Rekdal has been commenting on social media throughout the year she was researching and writing “West,” a book-length poem about the Transcontinental Railroad. Jan. 20, 2018: “This week has been a series of some of the odder requests/assignments: writing for the Journal of Military History, poem solicitation for pamphlet on spiritual practices, a …
Max Chang likes to joke — but he’s serious, too — about his claim as the state’s first Taiwanese-Utah native. He was born just a few months after his parents moved to Salt Lake City in 1969. In seventh-grade history class at Churchill Junior High, Chang learned about the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad at Utah’s Promontory Summit in 1869. …
Artist Beth Krensky’s eulogy for her mother, which she had embroidered on a kite (needlework by Jill Moyes) crafted from her mother’s nightgowns, undershirts, gloves and pajamas. I will release my last desperate grasp on you dearest Dotty, and allow you to float away. Loft upward and upward. Surely you will be welcomed through the gates of heaven. You have …
We asked bookmobile drivers about the preferences of Utah’s readers — and we weren’t exactly surprised to find out that the biggest demand came from kids. Kids’ books > Of course. The state’s public libraries, including bookmobile patrons, rank first in the nation for the number of children’s books borrowed per capita. That’s about 16 million children’s books checked out …
Stocking shelves, truck whispering and technical support are all part of a bookmobile driver’s job in the digitalage. By Ellen Fagg Weist | Photography by Faun Jackson Urban readers — that is, Utahns who live near city and county library branches — might consider bookmobiles a relic of their childhoods. Or maybe the setting for a “gentle reads” novel, the …
In the voices of the ambitious “West,” Utah Poet Laureate Paisley Rekdal is writing a soundtrack to a distinctively American story. By Ellen Fagg Weist | Photography by Austen Diamond If you know where to look, the ghosts of Chinese workers appear everywhere on Utah’s Transcontinental Railroad byway. On a warm November morning, I’m standing with poet Paisley Rekdal in …