New museum exhibit brings Yellowstone migrations to life

By Jenniffer Wardell | [email protected]

Travel with pronghorn antelope, elk and more as they make their way to a new home.

The Natural History Museum of Utah is giving visitors the chance to do just that with their newest visiting exhibit “Yellowstone: Invisible Boundaries.” Running now through Sept. 15, the exhibit uses photography, art and science to show the migration experiences of the various hooved animals that live in Yellowstone National Park. 

"It's inspiring," said Austin Green, a biologist who is working with the museum on another project. "It really highlights the struggle these animals go through."

The exhibit is the combined effort of wildlife ecologist Arthur Middleton, wildlife photojournalist Joe Riis, artist James Prosek and filmmaker Jenny Nichols. During the field project that inspired the exhibit, Middleton, Riis and Prosek documented the migrations of various animals native to Yellowstone. Nichols documented the experience of working on the field project.

“We brought the exhibit here because we Utahns have a lot of natural parks and great access to the outdoors,” said Tim Lee, exhibits manager for the museum. "Yellowstone has a lot of things Utahns can relate to, but it's also very different.” 

It also allows visitors a much more up-close look at various animals than they might get hiking in the mountains. Riis’s photographs take up a third of the exhibit, dramatic close-up shots of a newly born elk following its mother up the mountain or a pronghorn antelope buck who got caught in a pile of debris.

“It’s really about the one picture that tells the full story,” Riis said. “I’m in search of the really intimate moments that tell the story of these animals and their lives.”  

Many of the photos are displayed life-sized or larger, with brief explanations as to where each photo was taken and some of the experiences the animals faced elsewhere on the migration trail.  

"I find it amazing they've been able to photograph these things," said Linda Metke, a museum volunteer who stopped by to get a look at the exhibit. 

Riis uses trap cameras to get his shots of the animals, setting them up and waiting until the animals trigger attached motion sensors. Because of the uncertainty of that method, he has to have a clear sense of where to set up his cameras. 

“It’s a cycle where they migrate in the spring, give birth, spend the summer there, then migrate back in the fall,” he said. “I kind of have one chance in the spring and one chance in the fall, and the timing is often determined by weather. I have to be living where the animals are going to be going.” 

Those experiences have given him an on-the-ground perspective of those migrations. The exhibit includes a digital map highlighting the migration trails of different animal groups, with various overlays that highlight the often dangerous proximity of human construction. 

“An overpass spot would be a very stressful place for them,” he said. “It’s kind of their last connection.” 

He hopes his work, and the exhibit, helps make visitors realize the importance of protecting these migratory paths. 

“It’s been fascinating to see the broad range of people these migrations bring together, from conservationists to hunters,” he said. “It challenges us to work together, because not one government agency or landowner can conserve these migratory paths alone.” 

Prosek’s work takes up its own slice of the exhibit, with smaller canvases flanking larger pieces that take up most of the wall. All of the pieces portray various wild animals seen during the field project, including elk and grizzly bear. 

One larger work includes several numbers scattered across various parts of the canvas, a fact that sent Lee scrambling for some guide to determine the numbers’ meaning. When he talked to Prosek, however, he discovered there wasn’t one.

"It's an artist’s comment on how humans try to put order in nature, when it's really chaotic," Lee said. 

Together, it gives visitors another way to see a portion of the wild world that’s right next door.  

"It makes everything really accessible," Lee said. "Even if you've never been to Yellowstone, you'll be interested and inspired to visit."