Mix’d Media highlights wild migration
June 21, 2018
Tom Hallberg| J
Migration is the name of the game this summer at the National Museum of Wildlife Art.
A huge collaborative exhibit is its main draw right now, and an upcoming Mix’d Media event is ready to celebrate it. “Invisible Boundaries: Exploring Yellowstone’s Great Animal Migrations” combines several mediums to explore ungulate migrations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem through art and natural history.
In the all-encompassing spirit that underpins the exhibit, this Mix’d Media is a partnership between several organizations that have an interest in educating the public about migration. The event starts at 6 p.m. Tuesday with a keynote address from photographer Joe Riis, whose appearance is part of the wider partnership.
“The National Parks Conservation Association is responsible for bringing in Joe Riis,” said Taylor Woods, the marketing manager at the museum.
Riis is a National Geographic Photography Fellow whose work in the “Invisible Boundaries” exhibit chronicles the amazing steps ungulates, particularly elk, take to move from their summer grounds high in the mountains to winter ranges in the lowlands. One of his photos captures elk, including yearlings, trudging through snow over a mountain pass.
This is the second Mix’d Media event to promote the exhibit, which is on loan from the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody; and was created by the Draper Natural History Museum and the Whitney Western Art Museum. Woods said the public response has been overwhelmingly positive.
“People love it; it is so cool,” she said. “There’s a part that has gotten great visitor response, people can control settings and see where elk herds migrate.”
The interactive nature of the exhibit translates well to the Mix’d Media format, which this time will include cookie making, wildlife sketching and music from DJ Mr. Whipple, all of which start around 7 p.m.
The Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance is hosting the cookie-decorating station, dubbed “Cookies, Crossings, and Cameras,” while the Nature Conservancy of Wyoming is putting on a scavenger hunt and the wildlife drawing exercise.
“I’m not entirely sure what the drawing will be, but I think it’s a partner activity,” Woods said. “You’ll get some prompts on what animal you’re supposed to draw.”
Bringing in the Conservation Alliance and the Nature Conservancy is a great way to increase the audience for the Mix’d Media nights, Woods said.
“It’s relevant to all of them,” she said. “The hope is that by having more organizations involved that we’ll get more people involved.”
For those who haven’t been to a Mix’d Media before, the whole thing is free and allows access to the museum’s galleries. It is a chance for those who work during the hours the museum is open, or who don’t feel they can afford the entrance fee, to experience the museum. Food and drinks (including a free libation for members) will be available from Palate, the museum’s restaurant, and the occasion is meant to be an informal way to enjoy the museum’s offerings.
“We did it that way so that people working can come,” Woods said. “And we want to get a younger generation of museum visitors to engage with the museum on a social level.” 
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