Campus News

Westminster and Community Partners Unveil Coral Reef Crocheted by Local Artists, Children

Science, math and art education sparks creative crochet project from students and community

SALT LAKE CITY - As a tribute to the collaboration between community partners and their focus on arts and science education with local youth, Lake Bonneville Crochet Reef (LBCR) makes its debut at Westminster College. The LBCR is a collaborative project with the Great Salt Lake Institute at Westminster, FRIENDS of the Great Salt Lake, Brolly Arts and the Institute for Figuring. The crochet reef is created completely out of colorful yarn and crocheted by Salt Lake community artists and several elementary schools. It was unveiled for the first time during the 2011 Bioneers conference.

Since October 2010, artists have been crocheting the foundation of the Lake Bonneville Crochet Reef. In January, 2011, work with artists and students launched in earnest. Salt Lake artists and Westminster student volunteers have been teaching science at three Salt Lake City schools, as well as the Utah Museum of Natural History, and YouthCity, a program that serves Salt Lake young people ages 9-18. Through field trips and other hands-on learning experiences, youth learned about ecosystems in the Great Salt Lake. Enhancing that experience, the textile artists helped the students crochet some of the Lake Bonneville creatures and underwater forms.

More than 200 crochet pieces will form a coral reef for display in the lobby of the Meldrum Science Center throughout the month of November. The display is part of the Lake Bonneville Crochet Reef (LBCR), an educational program focused on combining science, math, art, and environmental change. Crochet patterns are built on mathematical structures that are often used to illustrate shapes in hyperbolic geometry.

Using crochet techniques, 165 children, 30 community artists, and Westminster students crocheted items shaped like brine shrimp and bioherms present in the Great Salt Lake today, along with prehistoric marine forms to create a reef of yarn, an artistic vision of the ancient Lake Bonneville. The program offers a meaningful arts and science learning experience drawn from Utah’s environment.

The reef will be on display at the Meldrum Science Center and is free and open to the public.

Media Contacts: Krista DeAngelis  & Arikka Von (801) 832-2682
Oct. 26, 2011

About Westminster:
Westminster is a nationally recognized, comprehensive liberal arts college. With a broad array of graduate and undergraduate programs, Westminster is distinguished by its unique environment for learning. Westminster prepares students for success through active and engaged learning, real world experiences and its vibrant campus community. Westminster’s unique location, adjacent to the Rocky Mountains and to the dynamic city of Salt Lake, further enriches the college experience. For more information visit www.westminstercollege.edu or follow @WestminsterSLC on Twitter.