Birds of Schenley Park

See this two-part artwork next to the Schenley Oval Sportsplex in Schenley Park!

About The Artwork

Suphitsara's project is inspired by the wildlife of Schenley Park. In her words:

When we think of parks, we automatically think of activities and relaxation. Wildlife seems to come second, if not last. Since Schenley Park is right in the middle of the city, amongst more than usual traffic and pollution, I feel the need to use this opportunity to remind city visitors of the wildlife in their backyard. During the process of researching and gathering information from the community, bird watching was brought up in the conversation, which led to discussing global warming. I took interest in researching how climate change affects the bird species in national parks.

On average, one-quarter of bird species found in a given national park could be completely different by 2050 if carbon emissions continue at their current pace. About 23% of species will come to extinction by 2050, averaged across 274 parks. Suitable climate may cease to occur in the future; some species like the American Robin (which can be seen in Schenley Park) may either adapt to the new climate or follow suitable climate elsewhere, thus becoming locally extinct from the park.

About The Artist

Suphitsara Buttra

Suphitsara Buttra is a spontaneous realism artist who specializes in portraiture with acrylic paint. As a mural artist, she creates pieces that reflect on people within their communities and in society.

Learn more about Suphitsara and her work here.

Location

The Oval Shelter is on the southwest end of the Schenley Oval, next to Overlook Drive. The artwork is on two panels, on opposite sides of the shelter.

Concept Renderings

The Storyteller

At each Art in Parks location, local storytellers created works to document and expand the narrative of the artists. In Schenley Park, creative nonfiction writer Sakena Washington produced two narrative essays that weave the artists' process with her personal experiences and memories of parks and campgrounds throughout the region. Read her work below, and learn more about Sakena and the work of the other storytellers here!

Community Meeting

A community meeting to discuss the new public artworks in Schenley Park was held on Wednesday, Feb 23 2022.

View the video of this meeting here.

This project received a RADical ImPAct Grant from the Allegheny Regional Asset District (RAD).