In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the High Desert Museum is embarking on a yearlong series of exhibitions and public programs to explore and reflect on the ESA’s impact on the High Desert and beyond. Through the end of the year, the High Desert Museum will unfold a series of exhibitions that further the discussion around extinction, including the currently running Wolves: Photography by Ronan Donovan exhibit, Endangered In The High Desert, and the highly anticipated exhibition Andy Warhol’s Endangered Species: From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and his Family Foundation, featuring works from the legendary Pop Art icon’s famous endangered species collection.
Take an intimate look into the lesser-known lives of wild wolves through the lens of a decorated National Geographic photographer. From October 21, 2023 through Feb.11, 2024, experience Wolves, a moving and stunning exhibition by acclaimed conservation photographer Ronan Donovan, created by the National Geographic Society and the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming. Donovan’s images and videos feature wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic, and explore the relationship between wild wolves and humans to better understand the animals, our shared history, and what drives the persistent human-wolf conflict.
The Endangered in The High Desert exhibit will run November 11, 2023 through July 7, 2024, bringing heightened attention to the variety of species in the High Desert ecosystem that are facing extinction or recovering from the threat. Examine the importance of ecological connectivity through engaging photographs and playful design. Visitors will also learn about simple conservation measures that they can take to help wildlife. In addition to learning about endangered species in the exhibit, visitors can tour the High Desert Museum’s other exhibits to meet living wildlife that have been listed on the ESA, including a bald eagle, Foskett speckled dace and desert tortoises.
Starting on December 9, 2023, the High Desert Museum will unveil Andy Warhol’s Endangered Species: From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and his Family Foundation, featuring the rare and valuable collection of original art by famous American artist Andy Warhol. In addition to the complete portfolio of Warhol’s Endangered Species series (1983), the exhibit will also feature selected highlights from Warhol’s Skull series (1976) and Vanishing Animals series (1986), as well as one of the Marilyn works (1967).
Andy Warhol, a household name and Pop Art icon, is best known for examining contemporary culture through images of commodification, mortality, and celebrity. Warhol’s Endangered Species collection asks visitors to reflect on our need for actionable conservation on a global scale and leverages the same style he used for celebrities to share that these animals deserve the same level of recognition and attention. The 900-square-foot gallery will convey the dynamic, ongoing efforts to preserve the highlighted endangered species but also the living implementation of the ESA itself. The exhibition will run through April 7, 2024.
About The High Desert Museum:
The High Desert Museum opened in Bend, Oregon in 1982. It brings together wildlife, cultures, art, history and the natural world to convey the wonder of North America’s High Desert region. The Museum is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, is a Smithsonian Affiliate, was the 2019 recipient of the Western Museums Association’s Charles Redd Award for Exhibition Excellence and was a 2021 recipient of the National Medal for Museum and Library Service.
About Endangered Species Act:
In December 1973, President Richard Nixon signed into law the Endangered Species Act (ESA), a comprehensive and powerful tool for protecting vulnerable species from extinction. Since then, the ESA has saved multiple species from the brink of extinction. Its efficacy also remains at the center of debate — and sometimes even controversy — about its implementation in the face of both human and wildlife needs. In our region, the ESA is often associated with the 1990 listing of the northern spotted owl as a threatened species. But there are other species in the High Desert, some lesser known, that are currently listed as endangered or threatened, including the bull trout, gray wolf, pygmy rabbit and whitebark pine.