Illuminating Birds

Then Now and All Around by artist and scientific illustrator Jane Kim is a large-scale mural in Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood that explores how the city’s ecosystems have changed over time. The mural tells stories of loss, resurgence, and adaptation, highlighting 21 species that have disappeared or become rare alongside those that have expanded or returned.

Born out of Kim’s 2023 Avian Artist-in-Residence with the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, the mural was developed in conjunction with the exhibition Illuminating Birds. Through research in the Academy’s collections and archives, fieldwork, bird walks, and community engagement, Kim explored Philadelphia’s changing avian and ecological landscape through birds, fish, and plants observed from the 1800s to 2021.

By connecting these changes to forces such as climate change, hunting, shoreline development, conservation, and environmental protection, the mural offers a hyperlocal portrait of Philadelphia’s evolving ecology and invites viewers to consider how we can transform and restore ecosystems while deepening our relationship to the places we call home.

About Illuminating Birds

Illuminating Birds was a 2023 exhibition at The Academy of Natural Sciences, blending gallery and studio to celebrate the timeless allure of bird illustration and literature. As the exhibition unfolded, avian artist-in-residence Jane Kim, whose work reflects current concerns about biodiversity loss and climate change, created a new public mural for Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood. Her work to develop the mural offers a tangible connection to these urgent themes, underscoring the enduring appeal of drawing and writing about birds.