Across the city of Hopkins, Minnesota, a flock of bird murals has landed on local businesses. A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker greets visitors at the entrance to a brewery; a Field Sparrow perches on the wall of a diner; an Indigo Bunting adorns the side of a local tattoo parlor.
The new avian additions are part of the Audubon Mural Project, a public-art initiative that commissions artists across the country to highlight birds vulnerable to extinction from climate change. The city is a fitting place to highlight birdlife given its location along the Mississippi Flyway, an important migratory route for hundreds of species. Hopkins has also long been a hotspot for public art, regularly displaying sculptures by local artists and running a special program to commission large murals.
Resident Francoise Shirley spearheaded the project after reading about the Audubon Mural Project in Audubon magazine. Shirley wasn’t always a birder; she started watching the birds in her backyard after her mom passed away, and she says observing them brought her comfort and helped her feel closer to nature. As she came to know her local birds better, she also learned about the alarming decline of common bird species. “I felt like, ‘Well, what can I do?’” Shirley says. Bringing the Audubon Mural Project to her hometown seemed like the perfect way to take action.
Shirley reached out to the city, the Hopkins Center for the Arts, and the Land of Lakes Bird Alliance, a local Audubon chapter, all of whom were eager to jump on board. The result is a series of murals focused on climate-threatened species within Hennepin County, where Hopkins is located. “We wanted to bring awareness to the fact that birds in our very own backyards in Hopkins are vulnerable, not just those in other parts of the country or world,” Shirley says.
The city and Hopkins Center for the Arts partially funded the project, and the rest was crowdfunded from the community. “We really got a huge segment of the population to be involved and feel ownership in this initiative,” Shirley says. The first murals, completed in September 2025, quickly became a launching pad for a range of community engagement events, from the city’s first Migratory Bird Day celebration in October 2025 to events at a farmer's market, toy store, and coffee shop. The Land of Lakes Bird Alliance also launched a course at the Hopkins Activity Center that pairs a tour of the murals with lessons on how to make homes more bird-friendly.
Since then, the wave of bird murals has kept spreading. In spring 2026, students at Alice Smith Elementary School created four murals featuring bird species that they chose and painted. Over the summer, the partners commissioned a massive mural on a city building that features birds along with the other native species that support them—continuing to grow the city’s commitment to spotlighting ecosystems and inspiring conservation action.
Clay-colored Sparrow and Field Sparrow by Audrey Carver
Location: Hoagie’s Family Restaurant, 824 Mainstreet, Hopkins, MN
Painted: 2025
In this mural, a Clay-colored Sparrow (left) and a Field Sparrow (right) face each other on two-foot-by-two-foot panels outside of Hoagie’s Family Restaurant. The small space was the ideal spot for a small, sometimes-overlooked bird species, says artist Audrey Carver. Behind the sparrows, Carver painted prairie grasses and a soft yellow background evoking the brushy pastures where the birds nest, along with grass seed and insects they eat.
Because Field Sparrows rely on brushy pastures and overgrown meadows for habitat, they are highly vulnerable to increased wildfires and heat waves. If climate warming continues at its current pace, the species may lose 72 percent of its summer breeding range, according to Audubon’s Survival By Degrees report. Meanwhile, Clay-colored Sparrows are projected to lose 70 percent and may no longer breed in Minnesota.
This is Carver’s third bird mural; her first two were for the San Diego Bird Alliance, where she led a collaborative painting event at the Kendall Frost Marsh Reserve. More than 100 community members contributed to those murals highlighting local wetland species such as the California Least Tern, Ridgway’s Rail, and Belding’s Savannah Sparrow. Carver is now designing t-shirts for the Land of Lakes Bird Alliance, illustrating different local bird species.
For Carver—who studied environmental science and worked in climate conservation before becoming a full-time artist—these projects offer a chance to combine the two fields she cares about. “When I'm able to incorporate my passion for environmental education and art to help people engage with their local ecosystem,” Carver says, “it's really an amazing opportunity.”
Indigo Bunting, Scarlet Tanager, Golden-winged Warbler, Pine Grosbeak, Wood Thrush, and Brown Thrasher by Kada Goalen
Location: Dragonland Tattoo, 923 Mainstreet, Hopkins, MN
Painted: 2025
Artist Kada Goalen calls her concept for the mural on Dragonland Tattoo “the spaces between.” Each panel captures a small, everyday setting where Hopkins residents might interact with a bird, such as an Indigo Bunting by a wooden fence, a Scarlet Tanager amid maple leaves, and a Golden-winged Warbler near milkweed blossoms. “I wanted it to be very approachable and really make sense to the environment around Hopkins,” Goalen says.
Initially, Goalen was asked to paint three birds, but the business’s owner liked them so much that he commissioned another three himself. Goalen added a Pine Grosbeak along with a Wood Thrush and Brown Thrasher, which both eat raspberries—fitting as Hopkins was once known as the “raspberry capital of the world.”
As birds that frequent urban areas, these species are all subject to threats such as light pollution, building collisions, and loss of native plants, which can be addressed on a local level, says Marian Weidner, president of the Land of Lakes Bird Alliance. More broadly, they’re also endangered by a warming climate.
Scarlet Tanagers, which rely on large blocks of forest for breeding, are especially vulnerable. Climate models show that if warming continues at its current pace, they could lose 68 percent of their summer breeding range. Wildfires, heat waves, and heavy rain, along with urbanization, all threaten their habitat. Golden-winged Warblers, whose populations are already declining severely in the United States, could lose 100 percent of their summer range if current warming rates continue, largely moving out of the continental United States.
Goalen, who has been painting murals for 25 years, says birds are one of her favorite things to incorporate—particularly capturing birds’ unique textures and movements, along with their vibrant colors. Born and raised in St. Paul, Goalen has produced public art all over the Twin Cities and was excited to work on another local project. “Hopkins has a special place in my heart. I love the community, and I love how much they support art, too,” she says. “This project was really special.”
Red-headed Woodpecker and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker by Adam Turman
Location: LTD Brewing, 723 Mainstreet, Hopkins, MN
Painted: 2025
Artist Adam Turman was drawn to Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and Red-headed Woodpeckers for their splashes of red; he immediately envisioned connecting their colors in a painting. In Turman’s mural on LTD Brewing, the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is doing what it does best: drilling tiny holes in the bark of a birch tree, a technique that allows sap to ooze out. Sapsuckers return periodically to feed on the sap, along with insects attracted to it.
Today, the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is still widespread, though it has disappeared from some areas where it formerly nested and climate change could pressure it further. If warming continues at its current pace, models show the species could lose 88 percent of its current summer range and shift into the far northern regions of Canada.
The Red-headed Woodpecker, meanwhile, could lose 94 percent of its summer range, moving out of wide stretches of the South and Midwest where it currently breeds. Once common, the striking bird, which flits through forest clearings letting out harsh calls, has already become a rare sight as its populations has declined in recent years.
Turman, a full-time artist, hopes his mural inspires people to find out more about the two species. He was raised in the Twin Cities and now lives in St. Louis Park, nearby Hopkins, where he and his daughter watch the birds that visit their garden. “To have an opportunity to go for a call right next door, in a city that’s wonderful and beautiful and loving and caring, that was really special,” Turman says. He loves to incorporate Minnesota icons like the Common Loon into his paintings. More than anything, he says, “My whole goal when I do murals is to make people happy.”
Henslow’s Sparrow, Cerulean Warbler, American Goshawk, and Boreal Owl by Alice Smith Elementary School Students
Location: Alice Smith Elementary School, 801 Minnetonka Mills Road, Hopkins, MN
Painted: Spring 2026
Four Minnesota birds now perch on Alice Smith Elementary School in Hopkins, thanks to the efforts of the school’s entire student body. Around 450 students from kindergarten through fifth grade came together to create the murals, each taking turns painting small sections to fill in the finished works. “It was really awesome to see this project come together as a student body, to hear students talking about it, and for the kids to be so impressed and amazed at their own work,” says Nikki Frueh, the school’s art teacher who worked with the students to craft the murals.
The birds, which were also selected by the students, are all found in the state of Minnesota. The Henslow’s Sparrow is an elusive resident of meadows and grasslands; the Cerulean Warbler, a striking songbird that flits through forest treetops; while the American Goshawk and Boreal Owl are both powerful predators that swoop through dense woodlands. But Audubon science suggests these birds face significant threats from climate change. The Boreal Owl, for one, could be pushed out of 84 percent of its current summer range, moving out of Minnesota and into far northern stretches of Canada to breed.
The final murals were unveiled at the
Eastern Whip-poor-will and Wood Thrush by Catie Michel
Location: City of Hopkins Public Works Department, 11100 Excelsior Boulevard, Hopkins, MN
Painted: Summer 2026
A massive mural stretching across the city’s public works building lays out a rich and interconnected web of native species. The 80-foot-by-20-foot piece, painted by Colorado-based artist Catie Michel, features two bird species local to Hopkins: a Wood Thrush peeking out from the center, and two Eastern Whip-poor-wills bookending either side of the design. The mural’s title, “After Dark,” refers to the nighttime activity of both birds—the mysterious whip-poor-will hunts for its insect prey nocturnally, while the Wood Thrush lets out its flute-like song at dusk.
In between the birds, Michel illustrated other elements of the interconnected ecosystem. A delicate luna moth and white-lined sphinx moth caterpillar (both prey items for whip-poor-wills) make an appearance, along with the native evening primrose and woodland phlox plants that feed those insects in turn. The thrush pecks at a winterberry plant, which also hosts a Hobomok skipper butterfly perched on its leaves.
Through this collection of species, Michel explores the balance and connections within the ecosystem’s food webs—and calls attention to the threats that could upend them. The artist worked through a heat wave and wildfire smoke to paint the mural, an apt reminder of the climate pressures that threaten the featured bird species with extinction, per Audubon science. She also is installing bird-safe visual markers on the windows of the public works building to reduce collisions, another major challenge for avian populations.
Michel—who previously worked in avian field research and also volunteers as a bird bander with Bird Conservancy of the Rockies—hopes her art can call attention to the need to protect these delicately connected ecosystems. “Perhaps this title can also refer to a still-possible time in the future when these birds are no longer designated as especially vulnerable,” Michel says of the mural. “When all bird—and all beings’—populations reach a balanced state, and when our societal systems reflect an ethos of collective care.”
