Center for Biological Diversity


Media Advisory, July 5, 2016

Contact: Tierra Curry, (928) 522-3681, tcurry@biologicaldiversity.org
Jim Scheff, (859) 334-0602, jim@kyheartwood.org
Roger Peet, (503) 753-7027, toosphexy@gmail.com

Endangered Species Mural Celebration Set for Sunday July 17 in Berea

White Fringeless Orchid Mural Part of National Endangered Species Mural Project

BEREA, Ky.— The Center for Biological Diversity and Kentucky Heartwood on Sunday July 17 will host a celebration for a new mural in Berea, the ninth in a national endangered species mural project highlighting threatened plants and animals around the country. The project aims to use art in public spaces to increase appreciation for regional biodiversity.

White fringeless orchid
White fringeless orchid photo courtesy USFWS. Photos are available for media use.

The Berea mural features the white fringeless orchid, a 2-foot tall endangered flower that grows only in forested areas with wet soil. Also called the monkey-face orchid, the elegant flower now survives at fewer than 60 sites in Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee, and has already been lost from North Carolina. In Kentucky the flower is found in Laurel, McCreary, Pulaski and Whitley counties and on the Daniel Boone National Forest. The orchid is pollinated by butterflies, including eastern tiger swallowtails, spicebush swallowtails and silver-spotted skippers, and is threatened by logging, development and climate change.

The Center’s endangered species mural project is spearheaded by Portland, Ore., artist Roger Peet, who is teaming up with local artists to bring endangered species to public spaces around the country. The project’s goal is to promote a deep affinity for the natural world and the wild creatures that help define it, and features species that are special to their regions.

What: The celebration will include music by Zoe Speaks, face painting by Jon Clark, craft activities with Sylvia Johnson, and refreshments.

Who: Mural artist Roger Peet, Center for Biological Diversity senior scientist Tierra Curry, Kentucky Heartwood Director Jim Scheff, Berea Tourism Director Kerri Lee Hensley.

The mural is being painted by Peet and by Tricia Tripp, who are available at the site for interviews by appointment from July 11-16.

When: Sunday, July 17, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Where: 123 N Broadway, Old Town, Berea

Endangered Species Mural Project Background
Previously installed murals include the mountain caribou in Sandpoint, Idaho; the Arctic grayling in Butte, Mont.; the monarch butterfly in Minneapolis, Minn.; the jaguar in Tucson, Ariz.; the blue whale and yellow-billed cuckoo in Los Angeles; and the pink mucket pearly mussel in Knoxville, Tenn. Upcoming murals are planned of the hellbender salamander in Little Rock, Ark.; and the marbled murrelet, a seabird, in Arcata, Calif.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.


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