Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Golden-crowned Kinglet by MANTRA
Location: 90 S. 4th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11249
Painted:Ìý11/4/2022
About the Mural:ÌýÌýTiny birds with busy lives, two kinglet species—Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned—forage in forest habitat shared by mushrooms like Common Bonnets and Amethyst Deceivers. A collaboration between theÌýÌýand theÌý, this mural celebratesÌýthe large importance of small organisms. Both birds and fungi play an essentialÌýrole in the health of the ecosystem they inhabit—one increasingly imperiled by the effects of climate change.Ìý
Although Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets are now commonly found acrossÌýforested areas in the United States and southern Canada, the boreal habitat where they spend each breedingÌýseasonÌýis poised to evolveÌýas temperatures rise. By 2080, roughly two-thirds of the birds' summer rangeÌýmay no longer be hospitable enough to support them.ÌýMushrooms and other fungi, meanwhile, are similarly vulnerable to environmental stressors—both those that exacerbateÌýclimate change, such as deforestation, and those caused by it, such as more intense drought. But because fungi helpÌýforests absorb carbon, they can also be powerful allies in the effort to slow global warming.
About the Artist:ÌýYouri Cansell, who goes by the nameÌý, is a self-taught artistÌýwhoÌýbegan painting walls in the French graffiti scene. Born in Metz, France,Ìýhe grew up between the noise of the city and the whispers of the surrounding countryside. In his paintings and murals, Mantra pays tribute to nature (be it human or wild) with beautiful andÌýrealistic renderings of his subjects. His process is a careful combination of perspective andÌýcomposition lending mastery to his °Õ°ù´Ç³¾±è±ð-±ô'²Õ¾±±ôÌýstyle,Ìýalong with exquisite use of colors—leaving his distinctive trace in the urban areas he visits like an echoing mantra, hence his artist name.Ìý
Mantra's goal with this mural, entitled "The Kinglet's Journey,"Ìýwas toÌýdepict a scene in which fauna, flora and funga are shown in a symbiotic relationship. He appreciates thatÌýkinglets can be found in New York, like the mural, he says, and heÌýpositioned theÌýmale Ruby-crowned KingletÌýon a branch to observe and invite the public into it.
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