Linda Dalton Walker Artist's State
ment
The imagery and poetry in this exhibit conspire on beh
alf of millions of birds reliant on Great Salt Lake as an irreplaceable re
fuge. \;
Wildlife photographer Linda Dalton Walker and lake-fa cing poet nan seymour first met at the receding shoreline. The two friends share a deep devotion to the shallow lake. They reverence the countless l ives the saline waters sustain\, especially those of over 230 species of b irds. Each feature of this exhibit is both a witness and a prayer on behal f of our winged neighbors. Since January of 2022\, Linda &\; nan have h elped gather a community to keep vigil for our sacred lake at this time of peril. The intimate photographs\, participatory puppetry\, songs\, and po etry here represent a body of work which continues to swell. Photographer Anna Pocaro\, teacher and musician Josh Craner\, filmmaker John Meier\, an d visual artist Therese Berry are all accomplices in this work\, each bear ing witness in their own genres.
\nCollectively these artists invite you to turn your own heart toward the lake and to lift your face toward h er feathered emissaries. While you are here: learn the shape of swallows\, fold a pelican as an act of devotion\, and trace the miraculous migration of Wilson&rsquo\;s Phalaropes with the help of sixth-grade experts. \ ;
\nThe lives of our winged neighbors are inseparable from our own.
Birds cannot advocate for themselves in the human realm and depend on our
help. Pay attention to any particular species and you will feel a swell of
affection. Speak up on their behalf and add your voice to the growing cho
rus of lake-facing\, bird-allegiant friends. We can begin to repair the ri
ft between humans and the life that loves life by practicing reverence and
reciprocity. In this way\, may we save what we love.
nan seymour|Artist Statement
\nLet us gather in a l ake-facing way!
\nSince colonization\, this is waste water has been the predominant story about Great Salt Lake. This sorry plot has prevailed over decades\, even as the lake has protected us from our poisons. I offe r we are a lake-facing people as an alternative narrative. For years now I &rsquo\;ve told this story to anyone who would listen.
\nI weave wor ds to cast spells on the lake&rsquo\;s behalf. My poems sing praises to th e vital but dying heart of our ecosystem. My words bear witness to the pre cipice we are on. They also seek to repair the breach between our own spec ies and our beyond-human kin.
\nPoetry\, song\, story\, and ritual a re my mediums as well as my tools for the work of relational repair. They bring me joy and stave off despair.
\nThe lake is a creator\, not a commodity. Her waters are contaminated and sacred. Diversity is life\; all ecology is queer. Hence\, we gather in reverence and in jubilance on the shore. We remember winged neighbors who rely on this last refuge\; we reco gnize the lives of birds as no less significant than our own. We seek to l earn from Indigenous leaders\, scientists\, and park stewards\; true poets of place. We sing to the lake and listen when she sings back.
\nBel onging is inherent and cannot be bought. Capitalism will be defeated when we defy the culture of comparison in favor of kinship. This is why I make all the imperfect art I can make. I am trying with all my might to bend ou r trajectory in favor of life and then bend it again. I consecrate my atte ntion. My labor is an on-going prayer for healing\, restoration\, and cont inuance.
\nWe belong to this wave-made world. May we co-create a sto ry in which we will be delighted to reside\; may we make it large enough t o get everyone inside.
\nhttps://nanseymour.com/
\nArt
ist's Bio
Linda Dalton Walker\, born and raised in this beau
tiful state of Utah\, grew up in the arms of Great Salt Lake\, building ca
stles in the sand and floating in the salty water with her siblings. It is
only fitting that\, as an artist\, her eye has turned towards the lake an
d the 12 million birds that rely on both the lake and us for survival.
Dalton has spent her life being inspired by the natural world around her. More recently\, the lens of Linda&rsquo\;s camera has been focused on the birds of Utah&rsquo\;s wetlands. Walker has been documenting birds wi th a strong emphasis on conservation\, and in 2024\, the international Bir d Photographer of the Year competition\, granted her a Highly Commended Aw ard in the category of Urban Birds. With a Masters in Education\, Dalton i s always seeking ways to educate people through her images.
\nLinda recently curated an exhibit that involved working with seven other artists \, that explored the complex impacts on the rivers that feed Great Salt La ke. She contributed 39 pieces to this informative exhibition\, Water Pilgr image: Where the Rivers End. Dalton&rsquo\;s research and photography for the exhibit spanned nearly two years\, aimed at raising awareness about th e environmental challenges facing this fragile ecosystem.
\nIn 2024\ , her wildlife images and story were internationally published in Conker M agazine\, UK. Walker is hoping that by creating connectivity to nature\, a nd birds specifically\, that people will begin to understand the value in what they are seeing and how important our Great Salt Lake is for all of u s. She believes that conservation in photography transcends age\, race\, c ulture\, and gender and has a way of transcending barriers. Her aim is to get people more curious and spark that joy of curiosity\, then perhaps the y will inspire others to do the same.
\nWebsite: https://www.lindadaltonwalker.com
Insta
gram: @lindadaltonwalkerart
BIOS for the Making Waves Arti st Collaborative
\nnan seymour\, poet of place
\nA queer daughter of Utah pioneers\, nan is a Great Salt Lake celebrant and vigil keeper. She founded the practice of River Writing in o rder to foster authentic connection. Everyone is warmly welcomed to this c ommunity-held generative writing practice. River Writing is one method of mending our relationships with the each other as well as the beyond-human world.
\nnan&rsquo\;s debut poetry collection\, prayers not meant fo r heaven\, was published by Toad Hall Editions in the summer of 2021. Her story &ldquo\;lake woman leaving&rdquo\; was awarded an Alfred Lambourne p rize by Friends of Great Salt Lake. In the summer of 2023\, Nan was honore d by Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall with a Mayor&rsquo\;s Artist Awa rd. As poet-in-residence on Antelope Island\, nan led day-and-night vigils on behalf of the imperiled Great Salt Lake throughout the 2022 and 2023 U tah State legislative sessions. \;During her weeks on the receding sho re\, she composed irreplaceable\, a collective praise poem for Great Salt Lake\, containing over 400 lake-facing voices. The book was published in f all of 2024 by Moon in the Rye Press. The ode is a community cry for the f ull restoration of the ecosystem.
\nThe poet also led the 2024 winte r vigil\, with daily demonstrations of love for the lake at the Utah State Capitol. Advocates of all ages walked with waves in silence every morning and celebrated the lake&rsquo\;s species with jubilant singing and dancin g each evening. During the 2025 session\, nan and her accomplices at Makin g Waves Artist Collaborative are keeping daily vigil at the Capitol once a gain.
\nnan&rsquo\;s body of work gives voice to the inherent rights of ecosystems to live\, flourish\, and evolve in natural way. Her words e merge from a devotion to repairing the breach between humans and the rest of the sentient\, singing earth.
\nAnna Pocaro | Photographe r &\; Native Garden Reclamation Specialist
\nAnna Pocaro is a professional photographer with over 20 years of experience capturing human connection through editorial\, event\, and portrait photography. He r keen artistic vision and dynamic storytelling bring authenticity and emo tion to every project.
\nAs the founder of In-Joy\, a Native Garden Reclamation business\, Anna helps individuals restore their landscapes wit h native plants\, fostering biodiversity and sustainability. She sees this work as a direct way to support Great Salt Lake\, highlighting the connec tion between land stewardship\, water conservation\, and environmental res toration.
\nA passionate advocate for Pia Apaa\, Great Salt Lake\, A nna serves as the resident photographer for Making Waves Artist Collaborat ive\, documenting community-led efforts to restore the lake. Her imagery c aptures the ritual\, ceremony\, and activism at the heart of this movement .
\nAbove all\, Anna is a dedicated mother and creative force\, brin ging passion\, purpose\, and connection to everything she does.
\nJohn Meier\, Filmmaker \; \;
John Meier\, a n Emmy award-winning documentarian who has earned accolades for producing roles on "This is Utah" on PBS Utah. His debut producing role on "Llama Na tion" achieved acclaim at national film festivals\, winning the Audience C hoice Award at the Omaha Film Festival and Best Documentary at the Utah Fi lm Festival. Passionate about the environment\, John employs storytelling to reconnect people with their surroundings.
\nThroughout his career \, he's dedicated time to document Utah's pressing issues. John aims to in spire a deeper connection between individuals and the natural world\, fost ering a greater appreciation for our environment at this time of imperiled waters and ecosystemic collapse. \;
\nJosh Craner\, Mus ician &\; Teacher \; \;
\nBorn and raised in Uta h\, Josh Craner has been teaching at Emerson Elementary School since 2003. He is grateful for the opportunity to inspire students to make a differen ce in the world. For the past nine years he has taken his 6th graders to t he Great Salt Lake for hands-on science\, which helped him fall in love wi th this beautiful treasure. Josh and his students have witnessed firsthand what is happening to the lake level. During the 2021-2022 school year his class asked what else they could do to help. This led the students to get involved in activism for the Great Salt Lake: they successfully advocated for brine shrimp to become the Utah State Crustacean\, wrote the song &ld quo\;Do Our Part\,&rdquo\; folded over 2\,500 origami pelicans for the Dea r Pelican project\, sang at the 2025 Great Salt Lake rally\, and developed informational handouts on American White Pelicans and Wilson&rsquo\;s Pha laropes.
\nAs a musician and songwriter\, Josh understands how impor tant art is. He believes that art is a wonderful way to help children and adults alike get involved in activism. As an educator\, he helps students recognize their power as artists and use it for good. \;
\nTherese Berry began her journey with Making Waves Artists Coll aborative by designing what the artists fondly refer to as their 'Gen One' puppets\, including brine shrimp\, brine fly\, eared grebe\, and avocet h and puppets. These initial creations served as a springboard\, leading to a collaborative evolution into creating a series of species-specific puppe ts\; a cardboard transformed cast of beyond-human life to animate in celeb ration of our love and devotion for Great Salt Lake. \;
\nBorn a nd raised in the heart of the Salt Lake Valley\, Therese grew up\, pursued her education and raised her family here\, becoming part of the landscape she loves. She earned her degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology from U tah State University and began her career as a seasonal biologist with the DWR. Following this\, she returned to academia to complete an education p rogram\, and spent many years teaching science to K-6th grade students. Cu rrently\, she works as a Research Manager at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in the Department of Population Sciences. \; \; \;
\nHe r love of science is one-half of the equation. As both her parents were ar t majors\, by default she grew up nurturing her right brain with many expl orations into various art forms\; drawing\, book making\, weaving\, quilti ng. These days\, she draws most of her creative energy from textile arts.< /p>\n
Sarah May
\nSarah May is a \;Salvadore& ntilde\;a artist\, weaver\, poet\, and bruja who has long called the Lake home. As someone who lives in the in-between of multiple worlds and identi ties\, Great Salt Lake is a sacred place where she is seen and held in all she is and where she cultivated her magic into the artist and storyteller she is today. Sarah served as the Director for the 2025 Great Salt Lake V igil at the Capitol.
\nSarah graduated from the University of Utah w ith her BFA in Photography &\; Digital Imaging and her MA in Community Leadership with an Emphasis in Art &\; Culture from Westminster College . Sarah has led designated spaces of healing\, connection\, and empowermen t for BIPOC communities in Salt Lake City utilizing art\, knowledge\, and wisdom from BIPOC and Indigenous communities.
\nOne of Sarah&rsquo\; s mediums of choice is cyanotypes and her cyanotype tapestry work led the way for the Making Waves Cyanotype waves\, flags\, and banners to be creat ed embodying Great Salt Lake.
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