Bring the Audubon Mural Project to Your Town

When Jennifer Kuroda sees a beautiful sunset getting underway, she knows it’s time for a detour. She drives a couple extra blocks on her way home in Rockford, Illinois, to admire an avian scene that’s larger than life: a Peregrine Falcon diving into a cluster of songbirds, painted in vibrant brushstrokes across a brick wall. “It’s just an incredible feeling to drive by and see that work,” says Kuroda, president of Sinnissippi Audubon. 

The mural is part of an unusual flock taking flight: storefront sparrows, grouses on grates, walls full of warblers. As part of the Audubon Mural Project, more than 100 such works have proliferated in New York City, where the public-art initiative featuring climate-threatened bird species launched in 2014. Now, the murals are winging their way across the country—from a Black Rail peering into a Washington, D.C., park, to a White-crowned Sparrow alighting on a campus in San Diego. 

“I can’t think of anything better than a bird mural in your community,” says Kuroda, who spearheaded the first chapter-led Audubon Mural Project satellite six years ago. Since then she’s produced eight murals in Rockford, Illinois, working with a range of local partners. Identifying the right artist is crucial, Kuroda says—ideally, someone who brings unique perspective as well as creative chops. In Rockford, that’s meant recruiting both middle school students, who “painted their hearts out” on a Golden-crowned Kinglet, and conservation-minded artists like Justin Suarez, who brings experience handling raptors to soaring murals of birds of prey. 

On Vashon Island, off the coast of Washington State, organizers imbued their mural with a strong sense of place. The art incorporates a land acknowledgment for the Puyallup Tribe, whose traditional lands include Vashon, and situates painted birds near where their real-life counterparts can be found. After serving as a gathering place during the pandemic, the site now features events like dance recitals and garden tours. “This meadow has become much more than just a restored habitat with a mural in it,” says Julie Burman, who led the effort for Vashon Bird Alliance. “It’s part of the center of the community.” 

Those in-person connections also helped bring awareness—and funding—to the project, Burman says. The entire budget for the mural, plus an endowment fund to maintain it into the future, was crowd-sourced from local donations, in exchange for the chance to dedicate an egg in the mural’s “Hope Nest.” Around 150 people ended up contributing to the project, including everyone from kids bringing in their allowances to folks contributing thousands of dollars. Other projects have turned to grants and local governments to get their projects off the ground.

Audubon Mural Project partners hope that when people see these painted birds, they’ll think more deeply about what would happen if the living, breathing species went away—an increasing threat as the climate warms, according to Audubon’s Survival by Degrees report. “The end goal of this is not to just create murals and extend the public art,” says Dana Loy, a board member of the Bird Alliance of Central New Mexico, “but to get people to notice and pay attention to birds.” This summer Loy’s chapter, with the support of the city’s art council, plans to produce three murals in the Albuquerque BioPark Zoo—a popular tourist destination. 

Eventually, local organizers would like to see that attention morph into action. When Kuroda leads tours of the Rockford murals, she shares concrete ways people can help birdlife, whether by choosing native plants, getting involved in advocacy, or reducing their carbon footprint. “I think using the arts to help spread the message is a beautiful way to do it,” Kuroda says. 

This story originally ran in the Summer 2024 issue as “Paint the Town.” To receive our print magazine, become a member by making a donation today.