Installed: 10/28/2014
Sponsored by: Cobin Szymanski
About the Bird: One of the most abundant ducks in the world, Mallards—which settle into city parks almost as comfortably as wooded swamps and prairie potholes—won’t be in any immediate danger. As temperatures warm they’re poised to gain more potential range than they lose. The population will expand north into Canada year-round and out of much of Mexico and parts of the Southeast and Southwest, however, and with 3 degrees Celsius of warming increased spring heat waves could imperil its young.
About the Artist: Graham Preston was formerly a master surfboard shaper and avid East Coast surfer who abandoned his craft and became a full-time artist. He studied under Tom Sanford and Julie Heffernan at Montclair State University, where he received his BFA, and is a proud grad-school dropout of the Brooklyn College MFA program. “Being born on the Delaware River, Mallards were like my wild pets,” he says. “I used to dangle my feet off the edge of my grandfather’s dock and throw feed to the ducks. When I discovered that these plentiful and gorgeous animals were in real danger of losing important segments of their habitat, I was shocked. When they see it, I hope folks say ‘Even the Mallard?! Really?!’”
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