The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art at USU Highlights 'Jim Mangan: The Crick'

LOGAN, Utah — The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art’s exhibition Jim Mangan: The Crick is a series of photographs documenting the real and imagined lives of a group of young men from the FLDS town of Short Creek, also known as “The Crick,” located on the Utah-Arizona border.

Originally drawn to the unorthodox architecture of the community, Jim Mangan traveled to Short Creek to document the homes with unusual additions and missing exterior siding. While there, he discovered a new subject: a hidden community of young men he refers to as “The Boys” who live an adventurous lifestyle of riding horses, wearing handstitched buckskin clothes, living communally and uniting in their distrust of the outside world.

Mangan’s dramatic images capture the ambiance of the American West. This exhibition features “The Boys” on horseback cascading down steep hills, climbing rocky mountainsides and exploring the open landscapes. Mangan conveys a sense of humanity in his portraits and depicts the playfulness of youth against the capricious landscape of the American West. The photographs explore themes of community, nature, abandonment, solitude, imagination and how humans grapple with their changing world.

NEHMA will host a panel discussion from 5:30-6:30 p.m. April 9 at the Russell/Wanlass Performance Hall on the USU Logan campus with a reception to follow at the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art.

Mangan will be joined by writer Judith Freeman and Short Creek community member Roman Bateman. Panelists will discuss how Mangan’s photography and Freeman’s written storytelling illuminate both realities and imagined stories of this marginalized part of the contemporary American West, while Roman Bateman provides a firsthand perspective of the life in Short Creek. The event is free and open to all.

About Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art

The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art at Utah State University fosters engagement with modern and contemporary art to facilitate learning and promote dialogue about ideas important to the people of Utah and the mission of Utah State University. Admission is free and open to all. Parking is available in the free museum parking stalls and at the Gateway Terrace. For more information, visit usu.edu/artmuseum or contact Shaylee Briones, shaylee.briones@usu.edu.