House Wren by Carla Torres
Location: Lydia's Magic Garden, 1665 Park Avenue, Manhattan, NY 10035
Listen to the bird in this mural!
Painted: 6/23/2025
About the Mural: In this mural by artist Carla Torres, a House Wren pops amid vibrant blooms of common milkweed. As part of the Audubon Mural Project—a public-art initiative drawing attention to birds that are vulnerable to extinction from climate change—NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks program and NYC Parks GreenThumb worked with the National Audubon Society, Gitler &_____ Gallery, and local artists to design murals in community gardens across the city. Through a collaborative process between the partners, artist, and garden group, each mural was designed to feature climate-threatened birds as well as native plants that birds depend on for food and shelter. By creating vibrant urban green spaces, community gardeners provide essential support for birds and people.
This mural was created with Lydia’s Magic Garden in East Harlem. The garden was first established in 1991 by Lydia Roman, who transformed multiple lots in the area into green spaces to support the neighborhood. Today, garden members continue to grow produce for the community and share the value of outdoor activity.
About the Bird: The House Wren is a familiar and lively neighborhood bird with a rich bubbling song, subtly patterned brown plumage, and a short tail that it often holds high in the air. It’s frequently found zipping around the trees to snap up insects or nesting in nest boxes near human homes. Artist Carla Torres says she wanted to feature the wren to call attention to the small and common species that may get overlooked. “That’s why I picked the House Wren, because it is our friend,” Torres says. “It is your neighbor bird that always chirps.”
Though it’s widespread today, the House Wren still faces threats from a changing climate: If warming continues at its current pace, the species is set to lose more than half of its summer range, according to Audubon’s Survival By Degrees report. Taking action to limit warming can help these neighbors continue to thrive across a wider swath of habitats. Meanwhile, maintaining pockets of urban green space like community gardens—and populating them with native plants—can make sure the birds have the spaces and insect fuel they need.
About the Artist: Carla Torres is a visual artist who works across several media including drawing, painting, illustration, animation, and murals. Originally from Ecuador, she relocated to New York City in 2006. Since then her work has been exhibited in several galleries locally and internationally including the Queens Museum and the Noguchi Museum. Her work has also been awarded prestigious illustration awards in the US, Canada, and Europe. Torres has been commissioned from various city organizations, including the City of New York Department of Transportation Urban Art Program, the Garment District Alliance, and the New York Health and Hospitals Arts in Medicine Program.
This garden mural showcases Torres’s style of using a limited palette of flat colors—informed by her background as a graphic designer—and of creating works that blend harmoniously with their environment. During the painting process, she says one of the highlights was interacting with the groups of people who would often hang out on the street near the garden. “I basically made friends,” Torres says. “I had an audience for the mural.”