The trail of Utah wildlife murals, where art and nature converge into adventure

A new trail map, dubbed Wildlife Walls, links murals throughout the state to local wildlife viewing areas, encouraging people to explore Utah’s biodiversity.

Its creator, Chris Peterson, is a local artist with a knack for everything involving nature and the outdoors, particularly encounters with wildlife.

“What I try to communicate in my murals is the magic of wildlife encounters,” he said.

Wildlife Walls aims not only to point others to the places where they can have their own experiences with nature, but also pay tribute to some of the local species.

The goal, Peterson said, is to create a “cluster of destination points” for outings into nearby natural areas.

Peterson incorporated these destinations — including his murals, wildlife viewing areas, must-see sites, nonprofit organizations and corporate partners — into a custom Google map available on the Wildlife Walls website.

The artist behind the walls

Peterson’s art is influenced by his extensive experiences with nature, ranging from childhood memories of growing up in an orchard-filled Provo to hiking Mount Timpanogos from “all the angles” to encountering bears.

While working at the Grand Teton visitor center, Peterson encountered a cub during one of his hikes through thick woods, though he never saw the mother bear. On another occasion in Vernal, Utah, he and his brother experienced a bluff charge from a black bear.

Both times, Peterson made it out unscathed, and he hasn’t stopped thinking about wildlife encounters since then.

“Something that I now have with me is that story and that experience,” Peterson said. “It’s all related to getting humans into our bodies, out of our brains.”

Despite being frightening, these experiences shift one’s focus from the mind to heightened physical senses, evoking an instinctual connection to wildlife, Peterson explained.

Wildlife, a recurring theme

Early on in his art training, Peterson was already weaving nature into his work, painting the landscapes he had frequently roamed, vestiges of what would decades later become Wildlife Walls.

But the path there wasn’t straightforward. Peterson put down art-making for 15 years to foray into humanitarian, nonprofit and environmental work.

During those years of career wandering, he wore many hats — volunteer, tour guide, activist, advocate, public servant, director and art teacher. The latter, Peterson pointed out, had a profound impact on him and his work.

Peterson’s first foray into murals occurred as he worked on grade-level projects alongside his elementary school students. He wanted to put their art in public spaces.

“My first murals were kids’ drawings of animals,” Peterson said. Much later, he would paint a dragon mural at Howard R. Driggs Elementary School in Holladay, with the help of over 300 K-5 students.

Peterson noticed animals, in specific, and wildlife, in general, unlocked the imagination of his students. When the assignments were animal-based, students made better art, he said.

Thinking about the modern human relationship to nature, Peterson had a realization about the power of animals. He said our interactions with them were “a lens on ourselves.”

And, of course, this was something Peterson was naturally drawn to. When he turned back to painting in 2017, all he wanted to paint was wildlife, reminiscent of the natural world of his youth.

“My subconscious wanted to go there,” Peterson said. “It soothed me.”

Gathering in support of conservation

Once Peterson realized what he wanted to do, it was all about figuring out how to do it.

After landing his first gig with a “legit budget,” where he painted an outer-space sci-fi-esque scene of a galactic brown trout about to swallow an astronaut, which is fittingly located on Utopia Avenue in Salt Lake City, Peterson gained some recognition.

Using his experience in community work, Peterson leveraged the momentum to find collaborators and dig into the topic he was interested in — wildlife conservation.

In 2022, in partnership with the Utah Wildlife Federation and the owners of the Neighborhood Hive Market in Salt Lake City, Peterson piloted Wildlife Walls.

The result was a 120-foot mural on the market’s wall honoring Utah’s state fish — the Bonneville cutthroat trout — and its remarkable comeback after its near extinction.

Jed Matthews, co-owner of the Neighborhood Hive Market, was immediately on board when Peterson floated the idea.

A fellow fisherman and conservationist, Matthews recognized the potential to embed a message that resonated with the local community.

As it stands today, the Bonneville cutthroat trout mural is not just a vibrant landmark that attracts passersby but a testament of the power of these murals.

“It’s a really localized conversation and awareness about (the Bonneville cutthroat trout) in our urban setting,” Matthews said.

School visits, biology presentations, wild animals and an annual street festival with live music called “The Bonnie Ball” spurred from the increased civil engagement the mural generated.

Matthews explained Peterson’s murals are sparking conversations around “being stewards of our environment.”

“He really cares about the species and making sure that we have these spaces for these creatures to survive,” Matthews said.

At the completion of that first mural, Peterson and his partners launched a statewide contest to promote the kickstart of Wildlife Walls. The winning submissions from that contest are now a traveling exhibit circling around the state through 2026.

Building engagement, one wall at a time

Through the short span of the Wildlife Walls, Peterson has seen, again and again, locals, business owners and larger companies rally together for wildlife.

In that sense, the murals serve as tools for the local community. While they possess intrinsic value as artworks, Peterson explained, their quantifiable value arises from the people who engage with them.

As in the case of the Bonneville cutthroat trout, the mural facilitated gathering and engagement, as well as conversations regarding wildlife preservation policies, Peterson said.

Working with local organizations and public officials, Peterson has ensured that each mural is relevant to the area and its people.

For instance, a mural in Heber city features Bart the Bear, one of Hollywood’s biggest animal stars, and a beloved community member.

Bart lived in Heber City from 1977 to 2000 with his trainers Doug and Lynne Seus, who established a foundation to preserve habitat for grizzlies, with pro-bono legal assistance from Heber City’s current assistant manager, Mark Smedley.

Smedley explained Bart was the perfect fit for the city’s second mural: “When I started talking to him (Chris) about that, his eyes just got big and he said, ‘You know, that would be wonderful to kind of capture that with a mural,’” Smedley said.

The murals serve to memorialize aspects of the city’s history and showcase mountain living and outdoor recreation, emphasizing Heber City as a destination for such activities.

Peterson mentioned the murals are as much for public spaces as they are for the people who encounter them. He hopes they evoke memories of past experiences with nature, allowing viewers to relive them.

Hit the trail contest

There are currently 14 murals on the trail available for viewing across six counties — Grand, Washington, Cache, Uintah, Wasatch and Salt Lake.

Peterson’s ambitious goal is to create at least one mural in each of Utah’s 29 counties. Since the project’s launch in 2022, he has completed nine murals (five existing murals were grandfathered into the map).

This summer, people have the chance to win different prizes by going and visiting the murals and the surrounding wildlife viewing areas.

In partnership with gear brands, Wildlife Walls is running social media giveaways to encourage people to visit the trail map sites and share their experiences online.

People interested in participating must take a photo of their visit and tag the Wildlife Walls Instagram account to be entered in the drawing. Participants get one entry per visit to a site, so “the more you explore, the better your chances to win.”

There will be monthly drawings and prizes as well as a grand prize. More details can be found at the Wildlife Walls website.

Additionally, the contest has three themes: water and wildlife, camping and wildlife, and wildlife inspires. The aim is to encourage people to engage more in each of these activities.

What’s next for Wildlife Walls?

At the moment, Peterson is focused on getting people to experience the trail map this summer, but he doesn’t rule out bigger developments for Wildlife Walls.

Even though there are still 23 counties left to paint, interest continues to grow. Peterson already has plans for upcoming murals in Richfield, Strawberry Reservoir and Antelope Island.

In the meantime, Peterson hopes people continue to connect with and appreciate the murals and the natural world around them.

He does so himself, often with his children, providing them with both exposure to nature and a creative outlet.

“It’s one thing to take your kids to experience something,” Peterson said. “It’s another to help them find ways to process it.”

This principle lies at the core of Peterson’s work and philosophy — using his brush to draw people in and guide them toward the wonders of the natural world.