Approximately 2,900 kilometers, Highway 89 meanders from Alberta, Canada to Nogales, Mexico, flowing through Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado Plateau, Basin and Range locations, connecting Native American reservations, rural communities, small farms, deserts, National Forests, BLM lands, UNESCO sites, National Parks, and State Parks.
This transportation spine of the Intermountain West leads to the most stunning landscapes in the world. Historically, Highway 89 provided a vital link for indigenous and rural communities and their economies, serving as a cross-section of large-scale landscapes of the West, its past, and its communities. Conserving, preserving, restoring, and enhancing this national treasure and its related cultural landscapes is critical.
How is the landscape perceived and inhabited along Highway 89, from border to border? How may we better understand the large-scale landscapes of the West, including the roles of human settlements and land uses? These research questions are explored using motion drawing, still drawing, still photography, and film. As a landscape architect and artist, my drawings and exhibits bring to life and communicate the vast scale and details, qualities, and plurality of experiences of Highway 89.