At a community gathering about Utah Lake, Terri Harmon, director of public outreach for Conserv Utah Valley, argued that negative public narratives about the lake are both widespread and embedded in local identity, and she urged using art and storytelling alongside science to change perceptions.

Harmon told the audience she analyzed public responses to the Utah Lake Authoritys recent "My Lake" media campaign and read representative comments to show the tenor of online discourse. "Regardless of what you think or say, Utah Lake is nothing but a sewer, and that's all it will ever be," she quoted from the sample, and said that many other commenters called the lake "filthy, shallow, dangerous, and ... trashed by decades of industrial waste." Harmon said those attitudes are "beloved" as part of place identity, which makes simple information campaigns less effective.

"If Utah Lake is only gross and useless, then it's nothing else," Harmon added, and argued for a long‑term approach that pairs scientific outreach with emotional engagement through art, exhibitions and public encounters to create new experiences and memories.

Emily, director of the UVU Museum of Art, described the museums interdisciplinary exhibition, "Healing Waters, Restoring Our Relationship with Utah Lake," which the museum developed with community input and partners including the Utah Lake Authority, Conserv Utah Valley and the BYU Museum of Peoples and Cultures. The exhibit combined art, historical artifacts and accessible scientific materials so "visitors also understood how they might be able to support efforts involving the lake in its preservation," Emily said.

The museum accepted roughly 50 artists from an open call, organized the works across five gallery spaces and added site commissions and community contributions, including a community memories wall and loaned historical materials. Emily said the display featured a range of media and local perspectives and highlighted projects such as Downey Doxey Marshalls paintings, Travis Lovells work on human interaction with the lake, Shireen Abedenerads fiber project "Rooted Resonance," and John Forsyths site installation made from reeds collected on the lake.

The exhibition included a public program series: science panels, literary readings, a Plein Air workshop led by Chantelle Clements, and a forest bathing session on the North Shore. Emily said the museum tallied 6,679 visits (including repeat visitors) during the roughly four‑month run and plans to publish a virtual exhibit the following week so wider audiences can view the works and program media.

Harmon framed the exhibit as a model for the kind of creative encounters that can supplement scientific outreach to shift entrenched public narratives: placing bodies in places, offering immersive experiences and using storytelling to make scientific findings resonate emotionally. Both presenters emphasized that changing public perception will be gradual and requires consistent, interdisciplinary effort.

The museum director said the virtual exhibit will be available soon; no formal policy decisions or votes were taken at the event.