Utahns have always been proud of our state’s public support for the arts because it is an expression of the value we collectively place on our culture and on our heritage. We have the distinction of having created the first state arts agency in the nation, in 1899, when legislator Alice Merrill Horne initiated the purchase of paintings for a state art collection. Yet step by step this remarkable 125-year-old history is being undermined by bad decisions, the most recent being the plan to close the Chase Home Museum in Liberty Park.
In the early 1980s a landmark partnership between the city and the state transformed the Chase Home, a pioneer era building formerly operated by the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, into a space to display the state art collection. Since then, for more than 40 years, the Chase Home has provided free arts programming highlighting the traditional arts of Utah’s native, rural, occupational and ethnic communities, the same groups that are among frequent park visitors.
Like the art on display inside, the Chase Home itself is a piece of traditional Utah art constructed by hand from adobe bricks. It has the distinction of being the only museum in the entire country dedicated to the display of a state-owned collection of contemporary folk art. In addition to exhibits, it also provides a community gathering place for workshops and concerts. Thousands of Utahns have publicly shared traditional music and dance from their own cultural heritage at the summertime Mondays in the Park concerts.
Located in our city’s oldest and most storied park, the museum’s free programming ensures that everyone has access. Both locals and visitors from around the world have experienced Utah culture through the Chase Home Museum. If you count yourself among those who value this heritage, please contact the governor’s office in support of maintaining the Chase Home Museum of Utah Folk Arts.
Carol Edison, Salt Lake City