About the Artists

These phenomenal bird portraits are the result of a year's hard work by students at Tualatin Valley Junior Academy in Hillsboro, Oregon. Under the guidance of science teacher Phil Kahler and art teacher Toni Kahler, each student chose a bird species to study from among the Cornell Lab's research and citizen science projects. In addition to learning about each species' biology and conservation, the students created these beautiful pieces of art. They used paint and gel to create emphatic, textured surfaces that rise off the canvas to bring an extra sense of life and motion to each likeness.

The students were introduced to the Cornell Lab's work through BirdSleuth, one of our educational programs. Mr. Kahler is a long-time participant in BirdSleuth, which provides materials and lesson plans that help teachers create inquiry-based lessons around common, easy-to-see birds.

These 19 canvasses are on display at the Cornell Lab visitor center through December 2009. They are even more captivating in real life, and we encourage anyone in the area to stop by and see for themselves.

See the class website for a behind-the-scenes look at the students' creative process and the evolution of their paintings. For information on buying any of the portraits, see this page.

—Thank you to the student artists for sharing their work: Suzie Bardeles, Kim Cheung, Troy Danielson, Elaina Davis, Konrad Dick, Emily Fitch, Chelsea Fritzler, Karisa Ing, Nathan Jump, Ian King, Taylor King, Lizl Lamera, Oscar Lopez-Bucio, Nicole McGuire, Jessica Nelson, Kasiha Pattee, Melinda Swanson, Kiana Villegas, and Su You.