Wake the Great Salt Lake | A Voice for the Great Salt Lake: The Great Salt Lake Hopeline Brings Community Voices Together in a Unique Public Art Experience

Imagine picking up a phone and hearing the whispers of the Great Salt Lake—stories of its past, the echoes of its present, and hopes for its future. The Great Salt Lake Hopeline, in collaboration with the Salt Lake City Arts Council’s Wake the Great Salt Lake project, is turning this vision into reality with an immersive public art project that invites the community to share their voices and memories in a way never seen before. This innovative project invites residents and visitors to share their personal stories, thoughts, and reflections on the Great Salt Lake through a dedicated phone line, fostering a collective dialogue about the lake’s past, present, and future.

Through a repurposed phone booth popping up around Salt Lake City and a digital hotline (979-GSL-HOPE), participants can engage in three unique ways: recording a personal message to the lake, listening to its sounds, or hearing messages left by others. By amplifying the voices of those who love and cherish the lake, the GSL Hopeline aims to inspire action and connection through storytelling.

“We want to create a space where people can engage with the lake in a personal and meaningful way,” said Nick Carpenter, co-creator of the Hopeline. “Whether you’re sharing a childhood memory, expressing hope for the lake’s future, or simply listening to the voices of others, this project is about fostering a relationship between people and the Great Salt Lake.”

The project has already begun to collect a wide range of heartfelt messages, from stories of early memories at the lake to reflections on its ecological significance. In addition to the interactive phone booths, the GSL Hopeline team has launched a podcast to share the collected messages with a wider audience. Episode one of the podcast can be found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Soundcloud.

Andrew Shaw, the Wake the Great Salt Lake program lead at the Salt Lake City Arts Council, emphasized the significance of the Great Salt Lake Hopeline’s presence in unexpected public spaces. “What makes this project so special is that it meets people where they are. Whether at an art event, a community gathering, or simply walking down the street, the pink phone booth catches your attention, draws you in, and invites you into an intimate, shared experience with the lake. It’s an innovative and deeply human way to engage with art and environmental advocacy.”

The GSL Hopeline will host a public activation from 6–9pm on Monday, March 24, at Fisher Brewing, 320 West 800 South, Salt Lake City. During this “sip and share” event, attendees will interact with the phone booth, experience engaging ways to listen to other callers’ responses, and encounter other Great Salt Lake art projects and advocacy groups. The GSL Hopeline team is also accepting invitations to bring the phone booth to other public-facing events. Look for the pink phone booth to appear at events across Salt Lake City this spring and summer — you never know where it will turn up next!

For more information on the project, scheduled events, or to invite the GSL Hopeline to your event, visit gslhopeline.org or follow along on Instagram at @gslhopeline.

For more about the Wake the Great Salt Lake program, visit wakegsl.org.

About Great Salt Lake Hopeline: Great Salt Lake Hopeline is a community art project and interactive audio experience that invites callers to connect with Great Salt Lake by recording a voicemail story of hope, hearing sounds from the lake’s shoreline, or listening to previously recorded voicemails from fellow callers. Callers can engage through our upcycled, mobile GSL Hopeline Phone Booth, which will pop up at events across Salt Lake City, or by dialing (979) GSL-HOPE. Voicemails collected will be woven into a podcast and short film, amplifying community voices and sparking dialogue about the preservation of Great Salt Lake.

About Wake the Great Salt Lake: Wake the Great Salt Lake is a temporary public art project that aims to educate and inspire residents and visitors to understand and prevent the further decline of the Great Salt Lake. The project is a partnership of the Salt Lake City Arts Council, the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office, and Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Public Art Challenge, with additional support from Kem and Carolyn Gardner, Zions Bank, the Marcia and John Price Family Foundation, and Delta Air Lines.

About Salt Lake City Arts Council: The Salt Lake City Arts Council promotes, presents, and supports artists, arts organizations, and arts activities in order to further the development of the arts community and to benefit the public by expanding awareness, access, and participation. For more information, visit saltlakearts.org

About the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office: Salt Lake City is the capital and most populous city in Utah, the fastest-growing state in the country. As the hub of the economy, the arts, and sports for the region, Salt Lake City is committed to fostering an inclusive, innovative, and sustainable community. 

With a focus on quality of life, Salt Lake City continues to be a destination for both residents and visitors alike, having hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics and welcoming the world again for the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. An elected mayor, who serves as the chief executive, and seven part-time City Council members govern the City. For more information, visit slc.gov.

About the Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge: The Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge brings together mayors, residents, and artists to develop temporary public art projects that address important civic issues in their communities. In 2022, Bloomberg Philanthropies invited mayors of U.S. cities with 30,000 residents or more to apply for up to $1 million in funding to create temporary public art projects that address important civic issues and demonstrate an ability to generate public-private collaborations, celebrate creativity and urban identity, and strengthen local economies. More than 150 cities from 40 U.S. states applied. Bloomberg Philanthropies selected eight winning cities to develop projects focused on challenges related to climate change, equity, food insecurity, gun violence, homelessness, public health, and revitalization. Since launching in 2014, the Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge has spurred more than $100 million in economic benefits for participating cities and action across a range of civic issues. For more information, please visit publicartchallenge.bloomberg.org.

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