Moab Museum Blog
Welcome to this new home for articles, updates, and other Museum happenings. The past two years have been busy ones for the Moab Museum: we’ve renovated our space, designed an entirely reimagined exhibit experience, and then adapted to COVID-19 with a variety of measures to bring you stories, objects, and programs virtually. Though the pandemic…
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The Moab Museum has recently undertaken the digitization of the extensive photo archive of longtime Moabites Fran and Terby Barnes. Curatorial & Collections Manager Tara Beresh addresses some of the most frequently asked questions about Fran and Terby, as well as their archives, now part of the Museum Collection. Who were Fran and Terby Barnes?…
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For many years, the Delicate Stitchers quilt guild has held an annual themed challenge and displayed a colorful array of handmade quilts in the Museum. This year, the quilters present “The Straight Skinny,” a series of long, thin quilts 12″ by 48″ which have been created by a dozen local quilters. The exhibit will open…
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Moab residents Cindy Hardgrave and Megan Blackwelder were elected to a three-year term on the Museum’s Board of Trustees at the Board’s April 21 meeting. Ms. Blackwelder currently serves as SE Regional Manager for the Utah Division of State Parks & Recreation, where she oversees three state museums (The Edge of the Cedars, Anasazi State…
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The Moab Museum is thrilled to present a temporary exhibit entitled Memories of the Quarantine / Memorias de la Cuarentena in collaboration with the Moab Valley Multicultural Center, which features a collection of stories presented in both English and Spanish collected by Moab local Mónica Piñera has collected from both sides of the US-Mexico border. The…
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The creative and versatile young artists of the Moab Charter School brought a pop of color to the Museum for a full week. From February 15th through 19th, the Museum hosted a temporary pop-up exhibit of student art ranging from paintings to sculpture, which was open to the students, families, staff, and friends of the…
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Longtime Moab locals, John and Anne Urbanek presented what is today referred to as “the Urbanek map” to the Moab Museum in December 2005. Originally from Kansas, John and Anne moved to Moab for employment at Arches National Park. Prior to Moab, John served as a pilot in the Korean War and enjoyed observing the…
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Museums worldwide have been criticized for the controversial display of indigenous objects. In years past, the Moab Museum showcased prehistoric ancestral objects such as ceramics, basketry, projectile points, and sandals. Some visitors admired these objects, inquiring: How old is this? Who made it? Did they live here in Moab? Other visitors avoided the space because…
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A deep dive into new insights about Grandstaff’s life The story of William Grandstaff, a Black frontiersman who once called Moab home, has long held a prominent place in our region’s history, and the incomplete record of his life in the Moab Valley has long invited question and controversy. Records recently uncovered by Salt Lake…
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