A Bonneville Cutthroat Trout, its massive dayglow-hued body painted over the length of The Neighborhood Hive building, was the first. Affectionately referred to as “The Bonnie Wall,” the 2022 mural began with the collaboration between Utah Wildlife Federation (UWF) and artist Chris Peterson. “The experience made us realize that there’s a lot of interest in this kind of project,” says Peterson. “When you do a mural, it sort of opens up a space in the public domain to have a conversation and to celebrate those animals.” Peterson and the UWF plan to bring a wildlife mural to each of Utah’s 29 counties. Right now, there are nine Wildlife Walls across the state.
Future murals
A future mural at Antelope Island could potentially be the tenth Wildlife Wall and would especially demonstrate what art can accomplish where politics often fails. The mural would likely coincide with the grand reopening of the Antelope Island Visitor Center, which is getting a major renovation, including an additional 20,000 square feet to its footprint, the facilities to host events and field trips and a large-format theater.
“It’s going to be the crown-jewel State Park Visitor Center in the West,” says Peterson. “I’m really excited that the mural is going to be a part of that.”
The Antelope Island mural would feature three species found around the State Park, whose habitats have changed drastically in recent years, as the lake levels drop: bison, pronghorn and burrowing owl, but the mural can serve as a reminder to treasure our encounters with wildlife.
“The Wildlife Walls are really about sharing some of the magic that I have experienced and showing other people that that’s where the magic is,” says Peterson. “Those encounters with wildlife are things that people don’t forget easily, sometimes holding onto them for their whole lives.” On a personal level, “These doses of wildlife encounters to me are high doses of therapeutic nature,” says Peterson. “I feel like it’s increasingly important in this age of anxiety for us to remember how blessed we are right now—how lucky we are right now—to have these experiences at our back door.”
As our actions as humans impact wildlife habitat, and those encounters could become increasingly rare, the Wildlife Walls provide an opportunity to not just celebrate what we have right now but, “At the same time, recognize the value that they bring to our lives and, therefore, the importance of the habitat they require,” says Peterson.
Shared enjoyment of wildlife encounters, and art that captures those treasured experiences, has the power to unify. “People get in the weeds when they start talking about policies and my land and your land and whatever,” says Peterson. “But if can just talk about the experiences, it’s a shared value that allows us to stay out of the weeds. That’s my goal with this project.”
The Wildlife Wall endeavor would not be possible without community partners to help champion the cause. “The process of engaging Utahns across the state and figuring out which animal, which wall, what other partners would be interested in this, and each one sort of evolving in their own way has allowed us to put together some pretty spectacular projects,” says Peterson.
The next phase
With nine Wildlife Walls now a reality and more on the way, Peterson and company are looking to launch The Celebrate Utah Wildlife Mural Trail.
People will be able to start following the trail at the website, celebrateutahwildlife.org, where they can access the trail map and learn about each mural, the species involved and the community. “We’re going to be incentivizing that participation with some prizes, contests, social media and involving partners like The North Face and other companies,” explains Peterson.
Peterson hopes the trail will also promote tourism to the towns where the murals are located. The trail will offer more than just views of murals, as well.
They plan to overlay the mural trail map with a wildlife viewing map that will include places like our State Parks and DWR viewing opportunities.
Aguila del Fuego’
Installed June 2023 676 W. Center St., Midvale
HawkWatch International helped bring this mural to Midvale as part of the Los Muros on Main Mural festival. The 76-foot mural features two native Utah species: A golden eagle and a rattlesnake, inspired by the Mexican flag as well as Phoenix, a golden eagle rescued from wildfire by the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah. Photo courtesy of Utah Wildlife Walls and chrispetersonstudio.com
Razorback Sucker
Installed March 2024 and May 2024 25 E. Center St., Moab
Before Peterson completed the final mural in May of 2024, he painted a “placeholder” mural to get the community excited about the new art installation and raise awareness for a cause. He adds, “It was super cryptic on purpose, meant to make people driving by ask, ‘What is that?’” The prism depicted in the placeholder is a reference to the Razorback’s ability to communicate in the murky waters of the Colorado River by reflecting UV light by rolling its eyeballs. “That unique adaptation, once I started looking into the razorback, was like the coolest little superpower,” says Peterson. The final mural, the Razorback on a field of stars painted over the placeholder, also highlights The Nature Conservancy’s Scott and Norma Matheson Wetlands Preserve’s work on behalf of the endangered fish with its Razorback nursery. Due to flood damage, access to the preserve was closed, but the mural is ready for the future reopening. Photo courtesy of Utah Wildlife Walls and chrispetersonstudio.com
The Bonnie Wall
Installed Oct. 2022. | 2065 E. 2100 South, SLC
The 120-foot Bonneville Cutthroat mural is the result of the support from partners The Neighborhood Hive, Trout Unlimited and the Utah Division of Wildlife. The partnership also brought a tank of live baby Bonneville Cutthroat Trout to the Neighborhood Hive market, where it is cared for by the community. Photo courtesy of Utah Wildlife Walls and chrispetersonstudio.com
Bear River Cutthroat
Installed Oct. 2024 200 East Logan River Tunnel, Logan (Merlin Olsen Park)
The 100-foot Bear River Cutthroat mural presented a logistical challenge, as it is installed along the wall of a tunnel over the Logan River. “The thing that I’m probably most proud of was the engineering feat that I puzzled over for a while,” says Peterson. He uses a commercial paint sprayer but needed to find a way to keep paint particles from falling in the river. Peterson rigged up a system with posts, parachute cord and a roll of plastic sheeting to catch any stray paint. It went off without a hitch “When you go there and the water is running, the light will come in the morning and the evening, and it will bounce off the water and illuminate the trout with these dancing ripple reflections that are mesmerizing,” says Peterson. The big project pictures more species than any other Wildlife Wall and had the support of the Bridgerland Audubon Society, Logan City, Western Native Trout Initiative and Cache Anglers. In addition to the Bear River Cutthroat, the mural features a White-Faced Ibis, Monarch Butterflies, fireflies (which you can see on the Logan River) and, of course, another Grizzly Bear. Photo courtesy of Utah Wildlife Walls and chrispetersonstudio.com
Desert Tortoise and Gila Monster
Installed June 2024 142 N. Main Street, St. George
This mural on the side of Zion Brewery’s Station 2 Bar features two threatened Utah Species: the Mojave Desert Tortoise and the Gila Monster. The partners behind this mural also include the City of Saint George, Greater Zion and the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. Photo courtesy of Utah Wildlife Walls and chrispetersonstudio.com
Grizzly Bear
Installed Nov. 2024 | 81 S. Main St., Heber
The third of Peterson’s Grizzly Bears, this mural is inspired by the animal film star, Bart the Bear, who made his home with wildlife animal trainers, Lynn and Doug Seus in Heber. Bart served as the model for the other mural Grizzlies as well. The mural installation lined up with the publishing of Lynn’s new book, The Grizzlies and Us. “I wanted to do something a little more,” says Peterson. “So we did a Bart film festival where we rented a bunch of his movies and tried and they told some stories and it was epic. It was like a highlight of my life, to be honest.” (For more on Bart the Bear, turn to p. 86) For this mural, Utah Wildlife Walls teamed up with Heber City TAPS and Vital Ground, the Seus’s foundation that works to restore and protect habitat for Grizzly Bears. “I feel like for me, as an artist, it’s time to explore what it means to be a bear,” reflects Peterson. “What can they teach us? How can we understand ourselves better by thinking.” Photo courtesy of Utah Wildlife Walls and chrispetersonstudio.com
Moose, Bison, Native Bees and Grizzly Bear
Installed July 2024 | Edison Street between 200 South and 300 South, SLC
Peterson restored the Edison Street mural in 2024, but it was originally commissioned by BLOCKS SLC, Salt Lake Downtown Alliance and SLC Redevelopment Agency in 2019. When Peterson restored the mural, he painted over the original black bear with a grizzly bear, instead.
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