The Giant Birds of Harlem
June 6, 2019 9:08 AM Subscribe
The Audubon Mural Project spotlights 314 bird species threatened by climate change.
"In his final years, John James Audubon, the celebrated 19th-century painter of bird life, lived in rustic uptown Manhattan in a house by the Hudson where some of his final paintings were of urban rats that caught his eye. But birds remained his forte. And as Audubon lies in his grave up from the river at West 155th Street and Broadway, Avi Gitler, a local art gallery owner, will not let his legacy rest. For three years, Mr. Gitler and a crew of artful spray-painters and some who stick to their brushes have been splashing giant-scale paintings of endangered birds all over the neighborhood." (New York Times).
The breathtaking artwork was commissioned to focus on the 314 species identified in the Audobon's Birds and Climate Change Report (pdf). As of this post, 111 have been created.
You can take a self guided tour, view them all at home, or walk with birder Jason Ward in Topic's Birds of North America series. Watch a peregrine falcon taking flight in this time-lapse painting video, featuring street artist Damien Mitchell.
For other bird mural delights: previously on MetaFilter.
"In his final years, John James Audubon, the celebrated 19th-century painter of bird life, lived in rustic uptown Manhattan in a house by the Hudson where some of his final paintings were of urban rats that caught his eye. But birds remained his forte. And as Audubon lies in his grave up from the river at West 155th Street and Broadway, Avi Gitler, a local art gallery owner, will not let his legacy rest. For three years, Mr. Gitler and a crew of artful spray-painters and some who stick to their brushes have been splashing giant-scale paintings of endangered birds all over the neighborhood." (New York Times).
The breathtaking artwork was commissioned to focus on the 314 species identified in the Audobon's Birds and Climate Change Report (pdf). As of this post, 111 have been created.
You can take a self guided tour, view them all at home, or walk with birder Jason Ward in Topic's Birds of North America series. Watch a peregrine falcon taking flight in this time-lapse painting video, featuring street artist Damien Mitchell.
For other bird mural delights: previously on MetaFilter.
These are owl so gorgeous! I'm fowling in love with the different art styles. Such a lovely beak-on of hope for endangered birds.
posted by carrioncomfort at 10:48 AM on June 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by carrioncomfort at 10:48 AM on June 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
Despite what it says on the website it might be more accurate to say the mural project is based in the Audubon Terrace section of Washington Heights (rather than Harlem). Wonderful project in any event - I'm particularly fond of George Boorujy's efforts.
posted by jcrcarter at 10:54 AM on June 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by jcrcarter at 10:54 AM on June 6, 2019 [2 favorites]
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posted by JaredSeth at 10:30 AM on June 6, 2019