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Emily Raboteau and Harlem's Gray Hawk Mural
An artist pays tribute to her mother through a bird mural
© Emily Raboteau
Over the last few years, writer Emily Raboteau has been going out and photographing a series of bird murals found throughout New York City commissioned by the National Audubon Society. One day, she came across an artist finishing up a Gray Hawk mural in west Harlem. The artist explained that she had chosen to paint that species because the gray feathers reminded her of the color of her mother’s hair.
BirdNote®
Emily Raboteau and Harlem's Gray Hawk Mural
Written by Conor Gearin
This is BirdNote.
Over the last few years, writer Emily Raboteau has been going out and photographing a series of bird murals found throughout New York City commissioned by the National Audubon Society. Documenting this artwork has been a source of solace for Emily, especially during the COVID pandemic. One day, she came across an artist finishing up a Gray Hawk mural in west Harlem.
Emily Raboteau: She was, like, putting some bars on its wings. It was beginning to look really real just as I arrived.
The murals highlight birds at risk of extinction due to climate change. The artists get to pick a species to paint. So Emily asked the artist: why the Gray Hawk?
[Gray Hawk call]
Emily Raboteau: She had chosen this one because the gray in the feathers reminded her of the color of her mother's hair. And her mom had died the year before. So this bird reminded her of somebody she had lost, and she was thinking about that as she made this bird for us all to enjoy.
[Red-tailed Hawk call]
Emily Raboteau: And as she was painting it, she noticed an actual bird in the air flying above us. It was also a hawk, not the same species, but she just felt like that was the spirit of her mom, you know? There was a way that it felt almost like a spiritual enterprise. You have these brushstrokes of beauty that invite you to look upon something unusual.
[Gray Hawk call]
Emily Raboteau’s new book is called, Lessons for Survival: Mothering Against “The Apocalypse.” Find a link on our website, BirdNote dot org. I’m Ariana Remmel.
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Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Gray Hawk ML139007651 recorded by Manuel Grosselet, and Red-tailed Hawk ML166694 recorded by Jay McGowan.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2024 BirdNote July 2024
Narrator: Ariana Remmel
ID# RaboteauE-02-2024-07-19 RaboteauE-02
Ariana Remmel
Narrator