Museums

Salt Lake City has plenty of museums to choose from. Here's a quick summary:

Utah Museum of Fine Arts, 410 Campus Center Drive, Salt Lake City, (801) 581-7332. Permanent collection of approximately 15,000 art objects representing world cultures for the past 5,000 years. Musical concerts, lectures, films, gallery talks. Hours: Tuesday-Friday: 10-5; Wednesday: 10-8; Saturday, Sunday: 11-5. Admission: Adults: $15.95; Seniors: $12.95; Youth (6-18): $12.95

Chase Home Museum of Utah Folk Arts, Liberty Park, (801) 533-5760. Our free exhibits provide a unique view of contemporary Utah through the traditional arts of our state's Indian tribes, occupational and ethnic groups, and Utahns of rural heritage. On summer evenings during July and August we present Mondays in the Park, a free concert series featuring everything from ethnic dance and music to pow-wow demonstrations and cowboy poetry by Utah performers.

This is The Place Heritage Park, 2601 Sunnyside Ave., Salt Lake City, 801-582-1847. Living History events and activities daily 9 am - 5 pm from May 15 - Sept. 30 (limited programming on Sundays). $13.95/adults, $11.95/seniors, $9.95/ children (3-11)

Discovery Gateway, 444 West 100 South, 801-456-KIDS. Discovery Gateway is Utah's premier children's museum, inviting families in to create, learn, and play together. Formerly called the Childrens' Museum of Utah, the museum provides a hands-on learning center with engaging interactive activities that inspire learning in children and fun for the whole family.

Classic Cars International Auto Museum, 355 W. 700 South,(801) 322-5186, (801) 582-6883. A collection of a hundred antique, classic, and special interest autos are on display, including Pierce-Arrows, a Stutz Bearcat, and a 1906 Cadillac "Tulip" roadster. Vehicles from 1903 to 1970 are represented.

Finch Lane Gallery / Art Barn, Salt Lake City Arts Council,54 Finch Ln., (801) 596-5000. Visual, performing and literary programs, generally free to the public.

Fort Douglas Military Museum, 32 Potter St., (801) 588-5188.The museum is housed in the 1875 Quartermaster Victorian Infantry Barracks Building located at Fort Douglas which was founded in 1862 by California Volunteers to protect the Overland Mail & Telegraph lines; 1,500-volume library of military history of Utah and Fort Douglas, reading room, two cemeteries, guided tours, permanent and temporary exhibitions.

Hellenic Cultural Museum, 279 S 300 West, (801) 328-9681,(801) 484-9708, (801) 277-9237. The museum reflects the life of the early Greek immigrants, their struggles, achievements, social life, and tragedies. Displays include a mining exhibit, photographs, costumes, dolls, old letters, manuscripts, early mining tools, as well as artifacts from Greece.

Museum of Utah Art & History, 125 South Main Street Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 (801)355-5554. Museum Hours: Tuesday through Saturday 11am - 3pm; 6-9 pm on the third Friday of every month for the gallery stroll. The mission of the Museum of Utah Art & History (MUAH) is to foster among people an awareness of, and excitement about, Utah art and its history so that they may draw significance and perspective from the past and find purpose for the future. MUAH is located inside a beautiful Beaux-Arts style building constructed in 1913. MUAH showcases only Utah related art and history from various state and private collections, as well as works borrowed from other museums.

Museum of Church History and Art, 45 N. West Temple St.,(801) 240-2299 office, (801) 240-3310 recorded information. Auditorium, reference library, museum store, films, puppet shows, costumed interpreters, audio-tours (English and Spanish), orientation film - all related to the history of the Mormon Church, and the works of Mormon artists, past and present.

The Price Family Holocaust Memorial includes two elements, an exhibition gallery and a memorial garden. The exhibition informs and teaches; the garden inspires and provides space for contemplation. The exhibition is presented on six panels that provide historical information on the rise of Nazism, its impact and consequences, liberation from its tyranny and the aftermath of its destruction. One of the six panels is dedicated to the story of John Price and other Salt Lake City residents whose lives were forever changed by these events.

Abstract and, at the same time, authentic in its materials and images, the garden's elements are provocative. They contain no specific or implicit references to the concentration camps, the Nazi regime or other abuses of war. Instead, the garden is a tribute to the Jewish people and their miraculous story of survival and rebirth.

The memorial is located at the I.J. and Jeanné Wagner Jewish Community Center, 2 North Medical Drive, Salt Lake City, Utah 84113 (across from the University Hospital). Hours vary by season. There is no entrance fee. Call for details, 801-581-0098.

Pioneer Memorial Museum, 300 N Main, (801) 538-1050. Thousands of artifacts from the late 1800's, from carriages, tools, and clothing, to dolls and toys. The stairwells between floors are filled with hundreds of paintings and photographs.

Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, 20 S. West Temple St., (801) 328-4201. Changing exhibits of contemporary visual arts, art workshops, performing arts, films, educational programs and art classes for children and adults.

Utah State Historical Society Museum, 300 Rio Grande,(801) 533-3500. Permanent exhibit "Utah at the Crossroads," special exhibits, lectures, book and gift shop.

Rio Tinto Kennecott Copper Mine offers extensive displays showing mining equipment and history. The mine, the world's largest man-made excavation, is 2 ½ - miles across and ¾ - mile deep - so big it can be seen from outer space. Copper is the primary product but the mine also yields significant quantities of gold, silver and molybdenum.

University of Utah / Salt Lake City

Utah Museum of Fine Arts, 410 Campus Center Drive, Salt Lake City, (801) 581-7332. Permanent collection of approximately 15,000 art objects representing world cultures for the past 5,000 years. Musical concerts, lectures, films, gallery talks. Hours: Tuesday-Friday: 10-5; Wednesday: 10-8; Saturday, Sunday: 11-5. Admission: Adults: $15.95; Seniors: $12.95; Youth (6-18): $12.95.

Natural History Museum of Utah, 301 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, Utah 84108, (801) 581-4303. Paleontology exhibits include mounted skeletons of Allosaurus, Stegosaurus, and Camptosaurus from the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, and a fossil mammal exhibit. Extensive collection of artifacts from ancient tribal cultures. Children's hands-on exhibits and art projects.