GEOFF BENNETT: As the Great Salt# Lake in Utah continues to dry up,## the arts community there has mobilized# to lay bare the major ecological,## economic and health stakes# if the decline continues.

Some have called this an environmental# nuclear bomb of toxic dust, harming## people and industries that rely on the# lake.

A public arts project called Wake## the Great Salt Lake aims to educate and# inspire residents and visitors alike.

Our senior arts correspondent, Jeffrey Brown, took# a look for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

BONNIE BAXTER, Director, Great# Salt Lake Institute: So that's## Antelope Island out ther.. JEFFREY BROWN: Uh-huh.

Uh-huh.

A summer day at the Great Salt La.. long an idyllic place to observe wildlife,# attracting locals and visitors from all## over.

But in recent years, the largest saltwater# lake in the Western Hemisphere has been ailing.

BONNIE BAXTER: We're on# the precipice.

You're very,## very close to an ecosystem that is collapsing.

JEFFREY BROWN: Biologist Bonnie Baxter is# director of the Great Salt Lake Institute## at Westminster University in Salt Lake# City.

She says excessive water diversion## for agriculture and cities and a long-term# megadrought exacerbated by climate change and## reduced precipitation have created a crisis, in# which public health is being threatened by toxic## dust from the flat dry lake bed, or playa,# containing arsenic and other heavy meddles.

BONNIE BAXTER: We're next# to a metropolitan center,## and the public health dangers of breathing# this playa dust is terrible.

So as we expose## these shorelines, the dust can become# airborne and really impact the air quality.

JEFFREY BROWN: And the# ecosystem hangs in the balance.

BONNIE BAXTER: We have worked to balance the# salinity to help the life in the lake that## feeds all of the birds survive.

Ten million birds# depend on this ecosystem.

It's so important that## it's probably the most important body# of water on the whole Pacific Flyway.

JEFFREY BROWN: Enter the Wake the Great# Salt Lake public art challenge, a project## to raise public awareness and perhaps mobilize a# response through art placed throughout the city;## 125 applications were culled to 12# multidisciplinary projects, as well as## events and workshops, with scientists including# Baxter consulting with artists along the way.

Felicia Baca is executive director# of the Salt Lake City Arts Council,## part government agency, part nonprofit.

FELICIA BACA, Executive Director, Salt# Lake City Arts Council: We believe that## the arts are a universal language and that can# provide acce.. It's a language that is approachable# for many residents where data and## science may not be.

And while the project is# founded in data and science and education,## we really think that arts# create an emotional connection.

And they're a place for, like, unity# and coming together and gathering.## And those are the kind of conditions in# which you build and engage citizenry.

JEFFREY BROWN: That engagement included dance... MAN: The novelty, the# excitement of a new environment.

JEFFREY BROWN: ... a museum# exhibit, Vanishing Waters,## Rising Voices, an installation, By a# Thread, inside the Utah State Capitol,## and a pop-up water school structure# for all to see, learn, and engage with.

TREVOR DAHL, Muralist: Let's do# that, but I want to like draw it in.

JEFFREY BROWN: Building an engaged# citizenry is just what muralist Trevor## Dahl was after when he launched his art# activation after consulting scientists## and Native American community leaders# about the delicate balance of the lake.

TREVOR DAHL: Some depictions of# these creatures that are lovable.

And## so whether you get the message about the# mural or anything, you can kind of say,## like, oh, those brine shrimp are so cute,# or, like, just a way to anthropomorphize## the lake a little bit.

We start to care# about it.

We start to demand that our## representatives care about it.

They start to# hold industry accountable.

And that's the idea.

JEFFREY BROWN: I mean, a mural in a small# parking lot by itself doesn't do anything.

TREVOR DAHL: Yes.

JEFFREY BROWN: But it's th.. TREVOR DAHL: Right.

It's part of a wave.

And we're# all, as artists, doing our best to help th.. JEFFREY BROWN: Across town at Spy Hop,# an after-school youth media art center,## students designed and printed digital zines,## handmade and self-published, a way to reach# and teach others about the ongoing crisis.

Recent high school grads Josie Callahan# and Eddie Memmott spoke of the personal## stakes for themselves and for a lake# that's a commercial source of magnesium,## lithium, and other mineral compounds.

EDDIE MEMMOTT, Student: It affects our food.# It affects our phones.

It affects our air.

It## affects our water.

And it affects our bills.

When# I learn about things and start caring about them,## the biggest factor is usually how# it affects me and the people I love.

So I thought talking about how this does# matter and it will affect you and it## will change your life, you should# care, felt very important to me.

JOSIE CALLAHAN, Student: My own personal# experience of, like, sort of climate and## environmental anxiety, I was like I need to have# something that can be sort of convenient, right?

JEFFREY BROWN: Very specific.

What can one do?

JOSIE CALLAHAN: What can we do,# right.

Not everyone is aware of## the people who are kind of taking the# most advantage of our water usage.

JEFFREY BROWN: An installation titled Hopeline# was reaching the public in perhaps the most## interactive way of any work in the project# through a pop-up old phone booth in which## passersby could hear the sounds of the lake's# birds and waves and stories left by others.

WOMAN: You know, you're the last yard of the# ocean here.

And since I grew up by the ocean,## it feels like a glimpse of# home every time I see you.

JEFFREY BROWN: While also leaving their# own stories.

Three artists behind Hopeline,## friends who grew up together in Salt Lake City,# say the problem, including regular dust storms,## is so acute they're considering leaving# their hometown, a place they love.

NICK CARPENTER, Artist: I think The New York Times# put it as like an environmental nuclear bomb.

JEFFREY BROWN: But that's how you feel.

NICK CARPENTER: At times.

And I think you're# reminded of it when you do see these dust## storms coming into town that maybe it's not# worth potentially buying real estate here.

JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

You mean like you# might have to leave at some point?

HAN CALDER, Artist: Definitely.

JEFFREY BROWN: Still, for this project,## they decided to offer a sense of hope.

And that's what they heard from others.

HAN CALDER: Well, I think a lot# of people will bring love into it,## right?

And maybe that has hope in it.

If# you love something, there's hope for it,## right?

So a lot of people will just say like,# I love you, Great Salt Lake.

And that has## been really endearing to me just to hear so# many people say I love you, Great Salt Lake.

JEFFREY BROWN: What does it all add up to?# Scientist Bonnie Baxter: continues to push## for public policy changes.

But she's also a firm# believer that art and artists have a role to play.

BONNIE BAXTER: Scientists can communicate# to the public, but maybe we don't get the## attention of everybody, right?

And so# to have artists at the table to help## express this crisis in a more visceral# way, people wake up and they listen.

JEFFREY BROWN: For the "PBS News Hour," I'm# Jeffrey Brown at the Great Salt Lake in Utah.