Community Send-Off of The Great Elephant Migration

Join us for a community send-off as we bid farewell to The Great Elephant Migration. This exhibition features 32 life-size elephants, sculpted from Lantana camara, on the Museum’s outdoor Sculpture Trail. Each elephant is a replica of an elephant living in Tamil Nadu, in southern India, sculpted by local Indigenous artisans known as The Real Elephant Collective. 

Elephants have matriarchal structures, with each herd led by an older, experienced female, so it is only natural that The Great Elephant Migration is a women-led conservation effort. Made up of influential women across diverse fields, including environmentalists, philanthropists, writers, and creatives, the Matriarchy is rallying support for human-wildlife coexistence alongside the elephants and will lead the final leg of The Great Elephant Migration to the finishing line of Los Angeles​. 

From Jackson, conservation leaders, NGO partners, matriarchs, and Indigenous representatives from Blackfeet Nation, Kenya, India, and beyond will embark on a 1,000-mile road trip to Los Angeles through Salt Lake City, Zion National Park, Las Vegas, and Joshua Tree. The elephants will travel in a decorated fleet inspired by vibrant Indian Lorry art. This final stretch is both a moving artwork and a ceremonial act, fusing Indigenous knowledge, contemporary design, and sacred storytelling to honor the migratory journeys of animals in a human-shaped world.

We need your help to decorate the transport trucks! Add your creative touch to the vehicles that will carry the elephants on their voyage—transforming them into rolling tributes to wildlife, art, and adventure. Enjoy lemonade and chai as we come together as a community to send off the elephants as they embark on the final leg of their journey! 

The event takes place outdoors, rain or shine, on the south-end of the Museum’s Sculpture Trail.

The Great Elephant Migration artwork by Rebecca Campbell.