"Yellowstone to Yukon: The Journey of Wildlife Art" opens May 14 at National Museum of Wildlife Art

 Dall Sheep, Gates of the Nahanni River, North West Territory, 2010, Dwayne Harty.

This info about an outstanding new summer exhibition coming to the National Museum of Wildlife Art comes from WordenGroup PR:

The Jackson Hole, Wyoming-based National Museum of Wildlife Art joins forces with the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies in Banff and the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) for a new exhibition that draws on the rich artistic history of the U.S.-to-Canada migratory corridor while conveying its importance for sustaining wildlife populations. Yellowstone to Yukon: The Journey of Wildlife Art will be on display in three galleries at the National Museum of Wildlife Art from May 14-August 14, 2011.  The exhibition then travels to the Whyte Museum.

Covering some 1.3 million square miles, the Y2Y region spans five American states, two Canadian provinces and two Canadian territories, and includes the Rocky, Columbia and Mackenzie mountain ranges.  Works chosen by the two museums for the exhibition link centuries as well as the migratory corridor’s wide-reaching territory, depicting wildlife in the region by such masters as Albert Bierstadt, John Clymer, Carl Rungius and Bob Kuhn. 

Dwayne Harty painting in Nahanni National Park, July 2010.

In addition to the historical pieces, contemporary painter Dwayne Harty was commissioned by Y2Y to travel the corridor, capturing landscapes along the route that had rarely if ever before been sketched firsthand.  Following in the geographic footsteps of renowned wildlife artist Carl Rungius, Harty painted the 17 “areas at risk” as designated by Y2Y along the Wyoming-to-Canada corridor, with his finished works serving as a “living thread” connecting main themes throughout the Yellowstone to Yukon exhibition.

The National Museum of Wildlife Art also will display its complete set of Rungius drypoints in a second exhibition to complement the Yellowstone to Yukon show.  Above Timberline: Engravings by Carl Rungius will be on display May 7-October 2, 2011. 

A member of the Museums West consortium and accredited by the American Association of Museums, the National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States provides an exciting calendar of exhibitions from its permanent collection and changing exhibitions from around the globe.  A complete schedule of museum exhibitions and events is available online at www.wildlifeart.org.  The museum is also active on Facebook at wildlifeartjh and on Twitter at @wildlifeartjh.

Media Contacts: Darla Worden, WordenGroup Strategic Public Relations, 307.734.5335, darla@wordenpr.com; Ponteir Sackrey, National Museum of Wildlife Art, 307.732.5444, psackrey@wildlifeart.org.