JACKSON, Wyo. — An art installation of migrating elephants headed north on East Gros Ventre Butte from the National Museum of Wildlife Art (NMWA) has made quite an impact on people from all over the Rocky Mountain West.
In May, Buckrail’s photographer Nick Sulzer also wanted to get up close and personal with the Great Elephant Migration sculptures during their visit to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
NMWA Chief Marketing Officer Madison Webb Stanko told Buckrail that responses to the elephants have been “incredible.”
“We’ve seen a huge increase in visitation … visitors have driven from all over the Northern Rockies just to come and see the elephants,” Webb said.
NMWA provided a box for visitors to write down their impressions of the elephant installation. Read a selection of visitor responses below, provided by the museum.
“I found this exhibit to be so powerful from the moment I spotted them on the way to work,” Jen F. wrote. “‘Now what in the … Oh my! It’s the tembos [Swahili for elephants} here in the Africa of North America.’ It is a brilliant location.”
“They’re beautiful!” Debbie G. wrote. “I do have to say it was a surprise to see them up there with the bison.”
“We drove by today and love it on every level,” Brian M. wrote. “We pity the folks who don’t understand the installation’s brilliance.”
“There may not be elephants in Wyoming, but there’s so much to learn about how the exhibit came to be,” Kim G. wrote. “A great learning experience.”
According to the NMWA, each sculpted elephant represents a live elephant living in Tamil Nadu in southern India. The structures are made from Lantana camara, an invasive species that takes over tens of thousands of miles of India’s protected lands. The exhibition highlights the challenges elephants face when coexisting with humans.
The sculptures are part of a moving installation that takes place all across the country. The elephants will remain on the NMWA’s sculpture trails until Friday, June 20, and ultimately end their journey in Los Angeles in July.
