Follow along as the project unfolds!

At the Academy of Natural Sciences, we frequently host visiting scientists, scholars and artists to engage with our collections. Their research reveals the value of our archives in addressing contemporary issues, such as climate change and biodiversity loss.  It also furthers a wide range of scholarship with local relevance and international significance — changing our perspective about the world around us. 

As part of Illuminating Birds, the Academy is celebrating contemporary avian illustration in partnership with Mural Arts Philadelphia, a local nonprofit organization. This summer, we will host visual artist and science illustrator Jane Kim in our galleries. Kim will work inside the Avian Art Studio, researching and painting a newly commissioned mural highlighting the wide variety of birds found in Philadelphia and their fascinating connections to local ecologies, watersheds and neighborhoods.

About Jane Kim:

Jane Kim’s enthralling avian artworks combine the precision of scientific illustration with a vivid, animating quality drawn from her training in the visual arts. Kim conducts extensive research, basing her paintings on a combination of direct observation, specimen study and photo and video viewing.  

She received formal training in printmaking at the Rhode Island School of Design and earned a master's certificate in science illustration from California State University Monterey Bay. Kim has created large-scale public art across the country, including the epic, interactive Wall of Birds at The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The expansive mural integrates the evolutionary history of birds with their biodiversity through life-sized depictions of the 243 modern bird families from around the world. Kim is also the creator of the Migrating Mural campaign, a series of public installations that highlight the wildlife found along migration corridors they share with people. 

Schedule of engagement opportunities:

Live Studio Painting: Avian Artist in Residence Jane Kim
Thursday, August 17
10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Join us Kim inside the Academy's Dietrich Gallery for a live mural painting demonstration with Avian Artist in Residence Jane.

Watch as Kim uses a variety of techniques to develop large-scale artworks from scientific collections, field research, and photography highlighting the variety of birds in Philadelphia.

Illuminating Birds is at the Academy through October 15, 2023, and is free with general admission ticket purchase.

Live Mural Painting Workshop: Avian Artist in Residence Jane Kim
Saturday, August 19
2 p.m - 4 p.m.

Join Academy of Natural Sciences Avian Artist in Residence Jane Kim for a live mural painting workshop in the Academy's Dietrich Gallery.

During the workshop, you can contribute to her permanent mural focused on the variety of birds found in Philadelphia and their fascinating connections to local ecologies, watersheds, and neighborhoods. Learn how her work combines the precision of scientific illustration with a vivid and animating quality drawn from her background in the visual arts to create works of art that further our understanding of the natural world.

In the workshop you’ll witness how Kim conducts extensive research, basing her paintings on a combination of direct observation, specimen study and photo and video viewing. Workshop attendees will receive free access to Kim’s Bird Academy online courses “How to Paint Birds” from Cornell Ornithology Lab. These 5 online courses showcase essential bird painting techniques to help you build confidence in color, dimension, and feather texture.

Jane Kim received formal training in printmaking at the Rhode Island School of Design and earned a master's certificate in science illustration from California State University Monterey Bay. Kim has created large-scale public art across the country, including the epic, interactive Wall of Birds at The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The expansive mural integrates the evolutionary history of birds with their biodiversity through life-sized depictions of the 243 modern bird families from around the world. Kim is also the creator of the Migrating Mural campaign, a series of public installations that highlight the wildlife found along migration corridors they share with people.