National Museum of Wildlife Art

The National Museum of Wildlife Art (NMWA) is a nonprofit museum located in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, United States, dedicated to preserving and exhibiting wildlife art. Founded in 1987, the museum holds a distinguished position as the only institution in the nation formally recognized by Congress as the "National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States," a designation secured through Senate Bill 2739 signed by President George W. Bush on May 8, 2008. Situated on East Gros Ventre Butte, the museum occupies a dramatic bluff overlooking the National Elk Refuge, integrating its mission with the surrounding natural habitat. Its collection centers on traditional and contemporary realism, with particular strength in works by Carl Rungius and Bob Kuhn, and attracts over 80,000 visitors annually, including more than 10,000 children who visit as part of school curricula.

The museum was founded on May 16, 1987 by William and Joffa Kerr together with a group of friends. William Kerr was the son of Robert S. Kerr. The institution began its life on Jackson Town Square under the name Wildlife of the American West Museum, with the Kerrs donating the core of the holdings from their personal collection. In 1994, the museum relocated to its current purpose-built facility 2.5 miles north of town, across Highway 89 from the National Elk Refuge. This move marked a significant expansion, providing 51,000 square feet of exhibition and program space. In September 2007, the museum dedicated Wapiti Trail, a monumental sculpture of five elk by American sculptor Bart Walter, adding a significant outdoor element to its offerings. The following year brought federal recognition when President Bush signed the public lands bill containing the museum's national designation. In 1994, the institution had already received the Wyoming Humanities Award for exemplary efforts in fostering the humanities in Wyoming. The museum also confers the Rungius Medal, its highest honor named for Carl Rungius, to individuals who have made lifetime or extraordinary contributions to the artistic interpretation and preservation of wildlife and its habitat; recipients have included Jane Goodall (2001), E.O. Wilson (2005), Joel Sartore (2017), and the founding Kerrs themselves (2007).

As of 2012, the permanent collection comprised more than 5,000 cataloged artworks representing over 550 artists. The collection's core reflects traditional and contemporary realism, with particular depth in North American wildlife art alongside international works. The museum's mission encompasses collecting, displaying, exhibiting, and preserving wildlife art from North America and around the world while enriching human knowledge of nature. Beyond the central Rungius and Kuhn holdings, the collection spans historical and modern periods with works by prominent American artists including Albert Bierstadt, George Catlin, Karl Bodmer, Charles Marion Russell, Frederic Remington, John James Audubon, and N.C. Wyeth. European and other international artists such as Friedrich Wilhelm Kuhnert, Bruno Liljefors, and Archibald Thorburn are represented, as are unexpected contributions from artists not primarily known for wildlife subjects, including Auguste Rodin, Pablo Picasso, Rembrandt, Rosa Bonheur, Georgia O'Keeffe, Andy Warhol, Walton Ford, and Kendra Haste. Contemporary artists in the collection include Robert Bateman, Simon Gudgeon, and Tucker Smith, while Mark Catesby appears among the historical figures.

The undisputed centerpiece of the museum's holdings is the combined collection of works by Carl Rungius (1869-1959) and Bob Kuhn (1920-2007), around which the institution built its identity and programming. Rungius, the German-American painter celebrated for his North American big game paintings, is further honored through the museum's highest award bearing his name. Kuhn, known for his dynamic and anatomically precise animal paintings, represents a later generation of wildlife artists. The museum's 14 galleries present these core holdings alongside rotating exhibitions and the broader permanent collection. The sculpture collection extends beyond the indoor galleries to include the monumental Wapiti Trail by Bart Walter, dedicated in September 2007, depicting five elk in a dramatic grouping that announces the museum's presence to approaching visitors.

The museum's 51,000-square-foot building features a distinctive Idaho quartzite façade inspired by the ruins of Slains Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The architectural design deliberately echoes the hillside behind the facility, creating a structure that appears to emerge from its natural surroundings on East Gros Ventre Butte. This siting places the institution within an active wildlife habitat rather than merely representing it, with the building overlooking the National Elk Refuge. The facility houses 14 galleries, a museum shop, restaurant, children's discovery gallery, and library. In fall 2011, the museum expanded its physical presence with the opening of the Sculpture Trail, designed by award-winning landscape architect Walter J. Hood. This three-quarter-mile trail extends north and south of the museum, branching into footpaths with bridges and staircases that provide varied vantage points. When fully complete, the trail will host 30 permanent and temporary works; twenty were installed at opening. The trail connects via an underpass to the main bike pathway into Jackson from north and south, which in turn provides access to the town of Jackson and Grand Teton National Park.

The National Museum of Wildlife Art is located 2.5 miles north of the town of Jackson, Wyoming, on East Gros Ventre Butte, positioned directly across Highway 89 from the National Elk Refuge. As a nonprofit organization, it operates independently with annual attendance exceeding 80,000 visitors, of whom over 10,000 are children typically visiting through school curricula. The Sculpture Trail remains free and open to the public, offering accessible entry to the museum's outdoor art program. The museum's educational programming is segmented by audience and learning strategy to accommodate diverse ages and both formal and informal learning styles. Two primary internship programs support professional development: the Lillian Thomason Gemar Internship in the Education and Exhibitions Department and the McGee Foundation Curatorial Internship in the Curatorial Department, offered to current graduate students and recent graduates with requisite coursework and experience, alongside additional unpaid internship opportunities. The non-circulating research library, with emphasis on wildlife art and artists as well as broader materials in art history, conservation, natural history, wildlife biology, cinematography, and photography, is open by appointment for browsing, reference, and research. The museum shop offers wildlife-themed merchandise including books, children's gifts, furnishings, jewelry, stationery, posters, prints, and exhibition-specific items.