Museum Recives Edward Abbey Photos

In an effort to add to the Museum of Moab's Photographic History Archive the Museum of Moab approached Clark Abbey the widow of Edward abbey about the potential of adding some photos to the museums collection.

Edward Abbey lived in Moab during 1950's where he worked as a Park Ranger for Arches National Monument. Abbey wrote the book Desert Solitaire about his experiences and feelings about development and destruction of the West.

Abbey would later go on to write the Monkey Wrench Gang a book that introduced the idea of Monkey Wrenching, or non-violent eco sabatoge. Abbey was a outspoken defender of nature and the enviroment. Many remember Abbey as a cantenkerous rabel rouser and he did little to disuade the image implying that it was the best way to stir up reaction.

Edward Abbey died on March 14th 1989 and was buried in an undisclosed location in the Arizona desert.

The Museum of Moab is grateful to Clark Abbey for her donation of five Images of Edward Abbey to the Museum Photographic Archive.

Museum to Host Smithsonian Exhibit

In conjunction with the Utah Humanities Council the Museum of Moab will be hosting New Harmonies:Celebrating American Roots Music September 18th through November 3rd of 2010. This exhibit is part of the Smithsonian Institutes Museum on Mainstreet Program

Museum of Moab Goes Wild

Through out the month of March the Museum of Moab hosts the Hogle Zoo's art show World of the Wild. Come and see over twenty paintings, photographs, and other medium depicting the amazing diversity of Animal life found on earth.

The World of the Wild, sponsored by Utah's Hogle Zoo, is the annual art show featuring artworks of animals and the wild. The goal of this exhibition is to bring together the works of serious artists who are interested in displaying their view of wild animals, plants and places with which we share our world.

The art of depicting animals is an ancient one. Prehistoric men depicted animals on cave walls in an attempt to gain power over their hunt. These paintings can still be seen in Lascaux, France; Altamira, Spain; Africa and Australia. Fremont and Anasazi Indians of Utah also drew animal images as a form of spiritual empowerment. The ancient Egyptians drew and modeled animals with great care based upon the observation of nature. Today, art classes are often seen at the Zoo painting and drawing from life.

Wildlife artists such as James Audubon have been instrumental in raising public awareness of endangered species. We hope by focusing more attention on the wilder side of nature that the public will gain a greater awareness and appreciation for wildlife.

The World of the Wild will run through April 2^nd for more information contact the Museum of Moab. (435)259-7985

Museum Brings Play To Moab

This Performance has been Canceled


The Museum of Moab in association with Plan-B Theatre will be bringing the theatrical production Block 8 to Moab on April 30th. Tickets are available at the Museum and the preformance will be at Star Hall. All proceeds will go be donated to the Museum of Moab.

Ten Japanese internment camps were in operation on American soil during World War II. One of them, Topaz, was located sixteen miles outside of Delta, Utah. How could such a thing happen? In a post-9/11 world, could it happen again?

Ken is a young internee grappling with whether to enlist in the military to prove his loyalty to the United States. Ada is a Caucasian librarian whose son is fighting in the Pacific. Their unlikely friendship offers insight into the paranoia, distrust and xenophobia that led to the existence of Japanese internment camps.

Funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Block 8 refers to the Internment Camp blocks in Topaz Utah. During World War II thousands of Japanese American were held in these camps through out the west. In Utah Topaz was the largest camp and perhaps the most active. Moab to shares a part in this story. Dalton Wells CCC camp some 15 miles north of Moab Served for a short time as Citizen Isolation Center during the winter 1943. However the few Japanese Americans held there were shortly transferred to Leupp, AZ where improved facilities could be had.

The play explores the condtions and interactions among both the internees and the guards and civilians involved with the Topaz facility.

Plan-B Theatre has produced numerous plays and productions. Last Year they brought Exposed a readers theatre discussing the plight of the Downwinders.

The Museum of Moab is excited to bring Block 8 to our community.

Artwalk Comes Early

This months Artwalk will be this Saturday from 6-9pm. This is one week earlier than the usual Artwalk time. However it will be a night of fun for everyone as it also lines up with our winter holiday festival here in Moab.

The Museum will be featuring the Artwork from the Plein Aire Competition held by Natural Bridges national park. There are 27 great paintings of both Natural Bridges and other parks in Southeastern Utah.

The Moab Artwalk will not start up again until March of Next year.

Museum prepares for renovation

The Museum of Moab is going through some changes. With a state earmark for improvement the museum is expanding and changing.

First the Museum will be updating it's history room by removing some displays and fleshing out a time line from the 1950's to the present era.

Secondly the museum is rehousing and storing many of it's artifacts to increase the efficiency of it's storage units will looking to expand it's external storage.

Finally the museum is moving ahead on its photo digitization initiative by scanning photos from the Fran Barnes collection into our computer database.

Overall the next few months at the Museum look pretty busy for everyone.

Hand Carved Map

John Urbanik's hand carved area relief map of Moab is among the treasured items in the Museums collections. Having taken nearly 20 years to complete the map is carved out of layers of balsa wood painstakingly pieced together bit by bit. The detail of the map is incredible and it gives an excellent view of the Moab area from above.