Desert Skies / EJ Spence
Bears Ears is located in one of the darkest areas in Utah making it a perfect location for enjoying the night sky. However on the BLM site there is no mention of specific places or ways to enjoy the night sky.
Navigating trails at night can be dangerous especially when a trail or landscape is new to the visitor. How can we enjoy the night sky in bears ears while also being safe?
Intermediate / Megan Petitt
The onslaught of information available to urban dwellers that has accompanied the rise of the digital age is hard to understate. But beyond metropolitan areas—many characterized by rugged landscapes and dispersed populations—how are rural citizens communicating vital information when internet, printed media, and TV news aren’t cutting it? Intermediate aims to fill this communication gap by activating an inherent part of rural life— travel— for the task of disseminating and dictating locally relevant information.
EcoKeeping: Reciprocity Through Outdoor Recreation / Catey Patrolia
A digital platform presented through a mobile app to help those who recreate in the Bears Ears National Monument area to identify and act upon opportunities to give back to the sacred landscape used for recreation. This platform facilitates a sense of stewardship with the land and drives new advocates for the protection of the communities and land in San Juan county.
Akin / Kassi John & Sofia Glaittli
Mapping our relationships and cultural engagement at Bears Ears National Monument. Akin is a digital platform bridging community knowledge directly with the lands.
The Rural Utah Community Atlas / Tage Rinehart
R.U.C.A. is a platform that empowers communities in rural Utah to take control of their own spatial narratives. By providing a method of spatial self-report, R.U.C.A. attempts to subvert the settler-colonial "Map" to enable communities to create an assemblage that is relevant and appropriate for them. With physical and digital options for both information input and information access, R.U.C.A. provides a multi-faceted approach that relies on the social construction of space to encourage responsible visitation from community outsiders, and to act as a useful reference for those in the community.
Axess / Cody Snow & Navi Guerra
Access, protection, transport, and guidance across Bears Ears.
Beyond the Binary / Chandler Isbell (he/him)
The natural world and human experience are diverse in sexual identity and gender expression, yet society has been designed to affirm a two-gender binary. To move away from that, I am designing an inclusive sizing system to encourage expression that isn't limited by the confines of gender expectations.
Mule Canyon Site Indigenous Context / Rikki Price
Mule canyon front-country site gives the intense impression that you are not the first to be here.
This powerful feeling creates an opportunity to design a more meaningful experience for the visitor by providing context about the site, giving them an opportunity to connect not just to cultures of the past, but of the present as well.
RED ROCK WIFI PROJECT / Rebecca Liou
The Red Rock Wifi Project fosters a sense of community among residents and reciprocity from visitors through a locally created mesh WIFI network in San Juan County. The Red Rock WIFI Project aims to create a platform of mutuality though data connection where an internet service is provided for the people, by the people.
It’s Nothing Personal / Roxcy Stanley
A Utah-wide letter exchange in response to common issues like political polarization and new fatigue. By facilitating thoughtful conversations, this program can create more understanding, less polarized communities.
Turbulence / Justine Ecker
Abyss is an experience designed to take users through key moments in Yellowstone's history and give them the opportunity to change them. After users choose their preferred path of events a new version of the park is presented. Users can then compare the version of Yellowstone they created with the current state of the park.
Made You See / Katya Pogodaeva (she/her)
Human/ non-human perceptions of the world diverge in many directions including color and the way that we see. Through a speculative subscription-based service I am attempting to create a knowledge-based archival system to expand color experiences beyond human point of view.
Period / Chloe Betts
Product designers have systematically excluded period-havers from their designs. As a result, a barrier forms between period-havers and their communities. This gap is especially evident in outdoor spaces and in the backcountry. This project aims to manipulate the stigmas that persist for period-havers in order to confront them.