Initiated in Harlem, in the United States, the Audubon Mural Project, is an art project in public space consisting in painting, on the city walls, frescoes representing birds threatened by climate change. It is inspired by illustrations of the birds of North America produced by the Franco-American naturalist painter Jean-Jacques Audubon in the 19th century. Born of a collaboration between the National Audubon Society and the Gitler & _____ Gallery, the project quickly caught the attention of the public and the press and spread throughout New York and many other American cities.

The Greater Sage-Grouse is a bird whose physical appearance is astounding during mating displays, reminiscent of a bomb. By these characteristics, he often attracts attention and lives mainly in the northwest of the United States. It is also the symbol of the sagebrush steppe, an ecosystem threatened by the extraction of fossil fuels and other industrial developments. According to Audubon’s climate models, the Sage-Grouse is likely to lose almost its entire current range, due to changes in its ecosystem, if the rise in temperatures is not controlled.

Painted in 2018 in New York, we owe this fresco to the artist George Boorujy, who explores our relationship to the environment, in particular our interaction and our perception of wildlife. He has participated in national and international exhibitions and is represented by the PPOW gallery in New York.

“The health of the environment and its people – including us – is our responsibility,” says Boorujy. “This is why I wanted to portray this bird as daring and confrontational and remind us that we have to hold ourselves accountable.”

Copyright :
Sage Grouse, Georges Boorujy, 3920 Broadway, New York, NY 10032, 2018. © Photography by MikeFernandez / Audubon.