This poster, created for El Paso's annual downtown arts festival Chalk the Block, features a Bighorn Sheep. Native to the Franklin Mountains, these sheep have been depicted in petroglyphs both in Franklin Mountains State Park and at Hueco Tanks State Park going back as far as 6000 B.C.E. and continuing through the Jornada Mogollon period (around 1450 C.E.).
So, when the sheep, many which were pregnant, were reintroduced into the State Park from east Texas back in December of 2024, it was a homecoming. The population now is more than double in less than a year’s time, with all the newborn lambs.
The poster also utilizes Augmented Reality (AR). That is, it was designed to not only look great sitting still, but it also animates. You can view the animation in two ways:
Simply Scan the QR code on the poster with your phone’s camera. It will take you to a website where you can click to view the animation.
or,
For a BETTER, more seamless experience, Download the free Artivive app on your phone. Then, in the app, simply point your phone at the poster and watch it come to life.
The text at the bottom of this poster reads:
"In December 2024, a herd of nearly 80 desert bighorn sheep were reintroduced to El Paso’s Franklin Mountains State Park as part of a conservation effort by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. The release marks a return of this native species to its historic habitat, after being extirpated from the region decades ago due to overhunting, introduced diseases, and because of competition for resources in other areas of Texas by non-native aoudads. At the Franklin Mountains, the surrounding urban areas make it difficult for aoudads, and their bacterium M.ovi, to penetrate the state park. Rain water-capture “water guzzlers,” in addition to the three active springs in the Franklin Mountains, allow the sheep to access water even during a drought. Along with the water sources, the park’s topography and vegetation make it a perfect habitat for bighorns—as proof of this, 17 lambs have been born in the park since reintroduction. In fact, for thousands of years, they roamed these mountain ranges. Prehistoric rock art found in the region even depicts the horned sheep in natural pigment paints!"
