The National Museum of Wildlife Art (NMWA) is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

located in

Jackson Hole, Wyoming Jackson Hole (originally called Jackson's Hole by mountain men) is a valley between the Gros Ventre and Teton mountain ranges in the U.S. state of Wyoming, near the border with Idaho, in Teton County, one of the richest counties in the Unite ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

that preserves and exhibits

wildlife art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

. The 51,000 square foot building with its Idaho quartzite façade was inspired by the ruins of

Slains Castle Slains Castle may refer to one of two ruined castles in Aberdeenshire, Scotland: * Old Slains Castle, a 13th-century castle was originally the property of the Comyn Earls of Buchan, near Collieston *New Slains Castle, a 16th-century tower house, b ...

Aberdeenshire, Scotland Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially different boundaries. The Aberdeenshire Council area includ ...

and echoes the hillside behind the facility. Located on a bluff called East Gros Ventre Butte in the midst of a real wildlife habitat, the institution overlooks the

National Elk Refuge The National Elk Refuge is a Wildlife Refuge located in Jackson Hole in the U.S. state of Wyoming. It was created in 1912 to protect habitat and provide sanctuary for one of the largest elk (also known as wapiti) herds. With a total of , the refu ...

and is situated 2.5 miles north of the town of Jackson. The core of the collections reflects

traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

and

contemporary realism The contemporary realism movement is a worldwide style of painting which came into existence c. 1960s and early 1970s. Featuring a straightforward approach to representation practiced by artists such as Philip Pearlstein, Alex Katz, Jack Beal an ...

. The museum's centerpiece is a collection of works by

Carl Rungius Carl Clemens Moritz Rungius (August 18, 1869 – October 21, 1959) was a leading American wildlife artist. He was born in Germany though he immigrated to the United States and he spent his career painting in the western United States and Can ...

(1869-1959) and

Bob Kuhn Bob Kuhn is a former mayor of Glendora, California. Kuhn was elected to the Glendora City Council in 1986 and was the city's mayor in 1990, 1993, and 1994. He also served as a Planning Commissioner from 1982 to 1986. In 1994, the NMWA opened a facility north of its previous location, across Highway 89 from the National Elk Refuge. In September 2007, the museum dedicated a new monumental sculpture of five elk called ''Wapiti Trail'' by American sculptor Bart Walter.

Collections

As of 2012 there were more than 5,000 cataloged artworks and 550 artists represented in the museum's permanent collection. Characteristic examples, along with those of Rungius and Kuhn, include works by

Albert Bierstadt Albert Bierstadt (January 7, 1830 – February 18, 1902) was a German-American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West. He joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion to paint the scenes. He was no ...

George Catlin George Catlin (July 26, 1796 – December 23, 1872) was an American adventurer, lawyer, painter, author, and traveler, who specialized in portraits of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans in the Old West. Traveling to the We ...

Karl Bodmer Johann Carl Bodmer (11 February 1809 – 30 October 1893) was a Swiss-French printmaker, etcher, lithographer, zinc engraver, draughtsman, painter, illustrator and hunter. Known as Karl Bodmer in literature and paintings, as a Swiss and French c ...

Charles Marion Russell Charles Marion Russell (March 19, 1864 – October 24, 1926), also known as C. M. Russell, Charlie Russell, and "Kid" Russell, was an American artist of the American Old West. He created more than 2,000 paintings of cowboys, Native Americans, an ...

Frederic Remington Frederic Sackrider Remington (October 4, 1861 – December 26, 1909) was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in the genre of Western American Art. His works are known for depicting the Western United State ...

John James Audubon John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin; April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was an American self-trained artist, naturalist, and ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornithology turned into a plan to make a complete pictoria ...

N.C. Wyeth Newell Convers Wyeth (October 22, 1882 – October 19, 1945), known as N. C. Wyeth, was an American painter and illustrator. He was the pupil of Howard Pyle and became one of America's most well-known illustrators. Wyeth created more than 3,000 ...

Friedrich Wilhelm Kuhnert Friedrich Wilhelm Kuhnert (September 18, 1865 – February 11, 1926) was a German painter, author and illustrator, who specialized in animal images. After illustrating the books of Alfred Brehm, he travelled to German East Africa to observe ...

Bruno Liljefors Bruno Andreas Liljefors (; 14 May 1860 – 18 December 1939) was a Swedish artist. He is perhaps best known for his nature and animal motifs, especially with dramatic situations. He was the most important and probably most influential Swedish wil ...

, Robert Bateman,

Simon Gudgeon Simon Gudgeon (born 1958) is a British sculptor specialising in large pieces for public display, usually in bronze, but also sometimes glass or stainless steel. He operates his own sculpture park. Early life Gudgeon qualified in law and onl ...

, Tucker Smith, and

Mark Catesby Mark Catesby (24 March 1683 – 23 December 1749) was an English naturalist who studied the flora and fauna of the New World. Between 1729 and 1747 Catesby published his ''Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands'', the fi ...

. Additionally, there are works depicting wildlife by

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

Archibald Thorburn Archibald Thorburn FZS (31 May 1860, Lasswade, Midlothian – 9 October 1935, Hascombe, Surrey) was a Scottish artist who specialised in wildlife, painting mostly in watercolour. He regularly visited Scotland to sketch birds in the wild, his fa ...

, Daniel Huntington,

Rosa Bonheur Rosa Bonheur (born Marie-Rosalie Bonheur; 16 March 1822 – 25 May 1899) was a French artist known best as a painter of animals ( animalière). She also made sculpture in a realist style. Her paintings include '' Ploughing in the Nivernais'', fi ...

Georgia O'Keeffe Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986) was an American modernist artist. She was known for her paintings of enlarged flowers, New York skyscrapers, and New Mexico landscapes. O'Keeffe has been called the "Mother of Amer ...

Walton Ford Walton Ford (born 1960 in Larchmont, New York) is an American artist who makes paintings and prints in the style of naturalist illustrations, often depicting extinct species. Each of his paintings is a meticulous, realistic study in flora and fa ...

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

and

Kendra Haste Kendra Haste (born 1971) is a British wildlife artist who produces both public and privately commissioned sculpture using galvanised chicken wire mesh to create wire sculptures of wild animals. She is a member of the Society of Wildlife Artists, ...

Sculpture Trail

The museum's Sculpture Trail, designed by award-winning landscape architect Walter J. Hood, opened in fall 2011. The three-quarter-mile long trail extends to the north and south of the museum. When complete, the trail will host 30 permanent and temporary works of art; twenty works of art are installed. The trail branches into several footpaths with bridges and staircases giving access to a variety of vantage points and views. Free and open to the public, the Sculpture Trail is proximate to the main bike pathway into Jackson from the north and south. The pathway connects to the Sculpture Trail via an underpass, providing access to the town of

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

and

Grand Teton National Park Grand Teton National Park is an American national park in northwestern Wyoming. At approximately , the park includes the major peaks of the Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. Grand Teton Na ...

Education

The museum offers several educational programs segmented by audience and type of learning strategy to accommodate a range of ages and learning styles, both formal and informal. The Lillian Thomason Gemar Internship in the Education and Exhibitions Department and the McGee Foundation Curatorial Internship in the Curatorial Department are the two primary internship opportunities. Internships are offered to current graduate students and recent graduates with requisite coursework, experience, and background. The museum also offers additional unpaid internships.

Library and archives

The Library is a non-circulating research library with an emphasis on material relating to wildlife art and artists. Additional material includes general art history, art conservation, natural history, wildlife biology, wildlife cinematography, conservation, and photography. The collection contains a wide variety of materials including books, journals, artist biographical files, video and DVD recordings, and Museum publications. The Library and Archives are open by appointment for browsing, reference, and research.

Honors and awards

In 1994, the National Museum of Wildlife Art received the Wyoming Humanities Award for exemplary efforts in fostering the humanities in Wyoming. On May 8, 2008, President George W. Bush signed Senate Bill 2739, a Public Lands bill that contained a provision recognizing the NMWA as the "National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States".

Rungius Medal

The Rungius Medal, named in honor of renowned artist

, is presented upon occasion by the National Museum of Wildlife Art to individuals who have made lifetime or extraordinary contributions to the artistic interpretation and preservation of wildlife and its habitat. In establishing the Rungius medal, the museum recognizes outstanding individuals and organizations across fields ranging from the fine arts to the natural sciences. The Rungius Medal is the museum's highest honor. Rungius Medal winners: Joel Sartore, 2017; John F. Turner, 2010; Bill and Joffa Kerr, 2007;

Clifford P. Hansen Clifford Peter Hansen (October 16, 1912October 20, 2009) was an American politician from the state of Wyoming. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, he served as the List of Governors of Wyoming, 26th Governor of Wyoming (January 7, 19 ...

, 2006;

E. O. Wilson Edward Osborne Wilson (June 10, 1929 – December 26, 2021) was an American biologist, naturalist, entomologist and writer. According to David Attenborough, Wilson was the world's leading expert in his specialty of myrmecology, the study of an ...

, 2005; Kenneth Bunn, 2004; Dr. J. Michael Fay, 2003; Dr. David Love, 2002; Bertram C. “Bert” Raynes, 2001;

Jane Goodall Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall on 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English primatologist and anthropologist. Seen as the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees, Goodall is best know ...

, 2001; Robert Bateman, 2000; Kent Ullberg, 1996;

Roger Tory Peterson Roger Tory Peterson (August 28, 1908 – July 28, 1996) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, illustrator and educator, and one of the founding inspirations for the 20th-century environmental movement. Background Peterson was born in Jam ...

, 1994;

Wallace Stegner Wallace Earle Stegner (February 18, 1909 – April 13, 1993) was an American novelist, short story writer, environmentalist, and historian, often called "The Dean of Western Writers". He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 and the U.S. National Book ...

, 1993; Bob Kuhn, 1992; Robert L. Lewin, 1990; Mardy Murie, 1989;

John Clymer John Ford Clymer (January 29, 1907 – November 2, 1989) was an American painter and illustrator known for his nature works featuring the American West. Early life and education Born in Ellensburg, Washington, Clymer first studied art thr ...

, 1988.

References

{{authority control Art museums and galleries in Wyoming Museums in Teton County, Wyoming Art museums established in 1987 1987 establishments in Wyoming