Traveling Smithsonian exhibit ‘The Crossroads’ visits USU Eastern
Students at Utah State University’s campus in Price are getting a rare opportunity to see a traveling Smithsonian exhibit. Crossroads: Change in RUral America” exhibit explores the difficult moments rural America faces as economic pressures strain local towns. It is being displayed along with the works of a local landscape artist, Terry Willis, and an exhibit about labor in America.
This collective exhibit is in part thanks to English professor Michaelann Nelson, one of the grant writers who enabled the exhibit to come to USU Eastern. Nelson said displaying all three exhibits together helps personalize the content for Utah.
“The main exhibit that has traveled here from the Smithsonian is the Crossroads exhibit itself, which highlights the way land, community, economies, energy extraction and national parks are all ways of how people fund their rural communities,” Nelson said. “One of the other exhibits is about labor in Carbon County. Then the other exhibit is an art exhibit that’s from a local landscape painter.”
Nelson says Price won’t be the only stop on the exhibit tour. The display, minus its companion labor and mural exhibits, will be traveling to Brigham City on March 9.
Nelson said the feedback from the surrounding community in Price, where the exhibit is currently displayed, has been overwhelmingly positive.
“It has really resonated. We’ve just had a lot of really positive feedback from the community,” Nelson said. “Everybody’s just really excited about this. It is the first time anything like this has come to our community.”
Nelson said this excitement may be due to many Utahns’ identity as rural Americans and Utah’s history as an agricultural state.
“In Utah, people have really strong opinions about public land in particular,” Nelson said. “So much of Utah’s public lands are in rural areas.”
Utah itself is also in a state of change. An article posted by KSL in 2023 cites census data that found urban growth in Utah is almost unparalleled by any other state.
“Last week, the Census Bureau released data tied to urban and rural trends from the 2020 census, which found that Utah’s urban population grew by 17%. Much higher than the national rate of 6.4%.” Carter Williams, a reporter for KSL News, wrote. “In addition, about 88% of all of Utah’s housing units in Utah are also found within urban areas.”
Utah is at a crossroads where its identity is being redefined through the evolution of its rural areas. Nelson said she thinks this is what makes the exhibit resonate with so many people.
“Most of us live in urban areas in Utah, but it’s really funny how so many Utahns still seem to see themselves as more rural or shaped by rural identities and ideals,” Nelson said.
Nelson said although this trend is global, citing the statistic only that 17% of Americans live in rural areas, it especially hits home for Utah.
This exhibit has taken over a year to prepare for. Nelson said seeing the exhibit in person made it worth it.
“It’s been really cool to see it in its space,” Nelson said. “This has been 18 months of preparations to get it here. It has been months and months of preparation and planning to get it here.”
Nelson said most of this planning involved creating a program of events that would engage residents and students. Some examples are talks from Navajo storytellers, book talks and even a performance from The Last Wild Buffalo, a bluegrass band based in Logan.
“It’s just a whole bunch of activities and events that are also part of the exhibit,” Nelson said.
Joe Ward, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, said this event would not have been possible without dedicated staff writing grants and planning the programming.
“I think it’s a wonderful project, and it’s certainly very consistent with USU’s mission to bring knowledge to all the people of Utah,” Ward said. “I’m really glad it’s happening. I give great credit to the faculty members for taking the initiative on this.”
Students interested in visiting the exhibit in Price can visit USU Eastern’s website and navigate to the Crossroads page. The exhibit will be in Price until March 3, and students in northern Utah can visit the exhibit on March 9 in Brigham City.