Last week, OceanDiver’s delightful diary, Birding with Swallows and Amazons, featured the natural connection between birding and the literary arts. Duly inspired, this week I shine the spotlight on birds and the visual arts—namely public art in the form of urban murals. Not only do bird-themed murals beautify the urban component of the landscape—quite literally “slapping” people out of their flat-lined and nature-blind states of awareness—they awaken people’s appreciation for birds and nature and seamlessly merge the mission of conservation advocacy.
There are so many social, cultural, and economic benefits to public murals, I could wax infinitum. But in brief, murals offer accessibility to art and creative expression; they create a tangible sense of place, identity, and belonging in urban environments; and they are powerful tools as economic development initiatives, facilitating public-private partnerships and collaborations.
I’ve gathered a sampling of bird-themed murals for your viewing pleasure. What struck me in researching bird murals was the astounding diversity of artistic styles and artist messaging, and the whopping impact these murals make on their communities. I was also pleasantly surprised at how prolific mural projects are around the globe, and the abundance of grant programs available to artists and communities to develop murals for aesthetic, social, cultural, historical, and environmental expression.
The following 3 murals are projects completed by ArtWorks, whose youth apprentices have completed 147 murals in 42 Cincinnati neighborhoods and seven nearby cities — “Transforming Greater Cincinnati One Wall at a Time."
Many bird-themed murals showcase signature birds of a region or species of conservation concern. Here are a few shining examples.
Pittsburgh, PA’s Community Murals enhance the urban landscape of Pittsburgh and surrounding communities of Allegheny County.
The Audubon Mural Project is a collaboration between the National Audubon Society and Gitler &_____ Gallery (not a typo) to create murals of climate-threatened birds throughout John James Audubon's old Harlem‐based neighborhood in New York City. The following 3 murals and the photo at the top are part of this project.
Bird-themed murals that depict symbolism or political themes are especially interesting to me. Here are a few in that broad category.
Though not bird-themed (but winged!), this mural of monarch butterflies nectaring on milkweed by artist Jane Kim simply bowled me over with its exquisite beauty. Check out Kim’s fine art murals at her Ink Dwell website, including her epic mural of 243 full-color, life-sized images of birds painted onto a 40’ x 100’ interior wall at the Visitor Center of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology Visitor’s Center in Ithaca, NY.
Are there any bird-themed murals in your neighborhood or region?
Please share any of your favorites.
Dawn Chorus is now open for your birdy observations of the week!