The National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, commissioned Prix de West award-winner Tucker Smith to create a spectacular painting of elk in the refuge just outside the museum’s walls. The three-by-ten-foot work is part of the museum’s permanent collection.

“Herds of up to 10,000 elk visit the National Elk Refuge,” Smith reports. “On cold winter days like the one pictured, they feed on wild grasses and food provided by the refuge. With Sleeping Indian Mountain in the background, it is a sight that should be shared by everyone. I always seek to have something to say in my paintings. It's just not telling a story; it's also visual . . . something that touches us emotionally through the eyes. I always try to 'say' something about light, shapes or colors. This is necessary in every painting; it's the reason to do a painting."