Designed by award-winning architect Walter Hood, the Sculpture Trail at the National Museum of Wildlife Art was unveiled in 2012. Now a decade into its development, the trail is continually evolving. When initially bidding for the project, Hood had a clear vision for the direction of the trail, a vision that won him the commission. In speaking about the project’s conception, Hood said, “Everywhere you go in Jackson the landscape is huge. When you’re in a place—even one like this—for so long, it becomes ordinary. I work to make things visible.” Hood will hold a free public tour of the Sculpture Trail at 11 a.m. on Thursday, July 21, 2022. Attendees are encouraged to meet at the Museum entrance.

The three-quarters of a mile Sculpture Trail underscores the Museum’s commitment to presenting wildlife sculpture within the fabric of Jackson Hole’s incomparable landscape. The trail begins at the Museum’s entrance with Bart Walter’s Wapiti Trail and winds up the sage covered hillside. Complementing breathtaking views, the Trail stretches along the bluff to the north and south, overlooking the National Elk Refuge and encompassing an open-air amphitheater at the Museum entrance. The Sculpture Trail was realized in memory of Jim Petersen.

The Sculpture Trail currently houses twenty-two pieces. Margery Torrey’s polar bear entitled Churchill is the newest addition, unveiled in August of 2021. Plans for the trail include accommodations for upwards of thirty sculptures. “From the beginning I’ve looked at this project as one piece of sculpture. It’s not lots of things on a ribbon that stretches three-quarters of a mile, but one big piece that you and the sculptures can occupy,” said Hood.

Hood is the creative director and founder of Hood Design Studio in Oakland, CA. He is also a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and lectures on professional and theoretical projects nationally and internationally. He is a recipient of the 2017 Academy of Arts and Letters Architecture Award, 2019 Knight Public Spaces Fellowship, 2019 MacArthur Fellowship, 2019 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, and the 2021 recipient of the Architectural League’s President’s Medal award. The Museum is thrilled to welcome Hood in celebration of the Sculpture Trail’s 10th anniversary. In addition to the public tour, Hood will be speaking to Collector’s Circle members at a members only dinner.