The challenges of migratory elk and other wildlife in the Yellowstone area are explored — through science and art — in a new traveling exhibit that lands at the Natural History Museum of Utah this summer.
“Yellowstone: Invisible Boundaries” opens June 29 at the museum, at 301 Wakara Way on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City. It runs through Sept. 15.
The exhibit features large-scale photos by Joe Riis, a former National Geographic fellow and the 2016 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year. Riis will give a public lecture on Saturday, June 29, and sign copies of his book, “Yellowstone Migrations,” which will be for sale at the event.
Also included in the exhibit are cultural objects, original works of art, and an interactive 3-D migration map of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem — a mix of private and government lands crossing Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
The exhibit was spawned from a project by Riis and wildlife ecologist Arthur Middleton to study the biodiversity of the ecosystem, which included two summers following one elk herd’s perilous migration journey. That work was captured by filmmaker Jenny Nichols in the documentary “Take an Epic Journey With the Elk of Yellowstone,” which also is featured in the exhibit.
Admission to the Yellowstone exhibit is included in the museum’s general admission: $14.95 for adults; $12.95 for seniors (65 and older) and young adults (13-24); $9.95 for children 3 to 12; and free for children 2 and under, museum members, and University of Utah students, faculty and staff (with ID). Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, open until 9 p.m. on Wednesdays (when admission is $5 after 5 p.m.).
