Audubon Mural Project
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Art / Mural Project

Where Birds Meet Art . . .

Photo: Mike Fernandez/Audubon

 

182

 bird species painted

120

 murals painted

The Audubon Mural Project is a public-art initiative of the National Audubon Society and Gitler &_____ Gallery that draws attention to birds threatened by climate change. Audubon’s groundbreaking science report "Survival By Degrees" found that climate change will threaten 389 birds species—at least half of all North American birds—with extinction, and that no bird will escape the impacts of climate-change-related hazards like increased wildfire and sea-level rise. The project commissions artists to paint murals of these species on walls, doors, and other surfaces throughout New York City, and partners have carried it to communities across the country. A special thanks to the many donors and supporters who make this project possible!

Sponsor A Mural

Most of the bird murals are concentrated in the Harlem and Washington Heights neighborhoods of northern Manhattan, where pioneering bird artist John James Audubon once lived and is buried, and where streets, schools, and other local landmarks carry Audubon's name. But John James Audubon's legacy is also intertwined with that of America’s past and present culture of racial oppression. Learn more about his biography  and explore questions that it raises  about diversity and inclusion in the birding and conservation movements today.

New York City Bird Alliance offers monthly tours of the Harlem murals. You can also take a self-guided tour using one of the maps below. The Audubon Mural Project has also begun to spread its wings across the country—and the world! Scroll down to see some of the bird murals that have been painted by our partners.

If you are an artist and would like to participate in the New York project, e-mail amp@gitlerand.com. Are you a teacher who has incorporated the mural project into your science or arts class? We'd like to know that, too! Email us at muralproject@audubon.org. 

New York City Murals
Partner Murals and Mural Projects

Mural Locations

Want a paper version? Download a printable map here.
(Note the Google map may reflect more recent updates to the status of murals.)

 

 

 

 

Explore the story behind the murals with NY1:

 

Plus: How the Audubon Mural Project amounts to a new kind of birdwatching. Why the murals help people tune back in to the problem of climate change. Hear from artists and neighbors on the murals' impact. Learn how it provided one neighbor with her spark bird. Find more press coverage here.