Salt Lake City: Livability in the 21st Century

Evidence of Salt Lakers’ love for art in all forms is strongest throughout the downtown proper. The Utah
Museum of Contemporary Art [UMOCA] is Utah’s premiere venue for contemporary visual art and was recognized
as the state’s best museum in 2011. Edgy modern exhibitions are held regularly at downtown newcomer, the
Central Utah Art Center [CUAC]. Connections between art and science are fascinatingly made at The Leonardo,
a museum brimming with dozens of kid-friendly interactive exhibits and compelling traveling exhibits.
Located slightly outside of the city’s urban center on the campus of the University of Utah is the Utah Museum
of Fine Arts [UMFA], Utah’s primary cultural resource for global visual arts, serving a dual role as a university
and state art museum. Also on the U. of U. campus is the Natural History Museum of Utah [NHMU], housed in
a stunning LEED Gold-certified building completed in 2011. The stepped design building pays a lovely homage
to the mountainside on which it resides while inside ten themed galleries allow visitors to explore nature and
science in creative and unexpected ways. NHMU is also a working laboratory; observation galleries allow visitors
to observe archaeologists examining and studying actual dinosaur bones and other artifacts.
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Opposite: Natural History Museum of Utah at the Rio Tinto Center, The University of Utah.
COPYRIGHT JEFF GOLDBERG/ESTO FOR ENNEAD ARCHITECTS. ARCHITECTS ENNEAD ARCHITECTS AND GSBS ARCHITECTS.
S A L T L A K E C I T Y — L i v a b i l i t y i n t h e 2 1 s t C e n t u r y
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