Visitors to Yellowstone National Park were recently treated to an unusual nighttime sight: glowing messages lighting up the landscape itself. These weren’t natural phenomena, but the work of Swedish-American artist Michele Pred, who is using art to sound the alarm on public land protections.
In a bold guerrilla installation, Pred projected phrases like “Money for parks, not oligarchs” and “Sacred land needs sacred care” across Yellowstone’s iconic terrain. Her work responds to federal budget cuts impacting national parks and forest services. Pred’s goal is to jolt the public and policymakers into protecting these sacred spaces before it’s too late. With a background in provocative protest art, she’s now using the landscape itself as her canvas. By turning national parks into temporary billboards, she’s making sure the message can’t be ignored. This isn’t just art, it’s a spark of hope reminding us that these lands still have fierce defenders.