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July 2016
Feature Jaguar Mural Kati Astraeir and Center for Biological Diversity Tucson |
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Jaguar Mural. photo courtesy Kati Astraeir
Art and science crossed paths in an especially riveting and beautiful way in May when an eight-foot high, 20-foot long mural of the endangered jaguar was unveiled in Tucson. Tucson artist Kati Astraeir painted the mural which was commissioned by the Center for Biological Diversity as part of its Endangered Species Murals project. The jaguar mural can be found at North Seventh and East Toole St. in downtown Tucson.
Randy Serraglio,a Southwest Conversation Advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, explains how the mural came about. “We decided Tucson needed a mural to celebrate America’s only known jaguar living in our backyard.” The jaguar, named El Jefe (“The Boss” in Spanish) has been repeatedly sighted and captured on remote sensor cameras in his habitat in the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson.
“I approached Steven Eye of Solar Culture Gallery to inquire about using the space on the side of their building for the mural, and he suggested that Kati paint it. I saw a stunning painting she had done of an iguana, very detailed and vivid, and I knew right away she would do a great job with the jaguar,” Serraglio adds.
[click on all images to enlarge]
Randy Serraglio,a Southwest Conversation Advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, explains how the mural came about. “We decided Tucson needed a mural to celebrate America’s only known jaguar living in our backyard.” The jaguar, named El Jefe (“The Boss” in Spanish) has been repeatedly sighted and captured on remote sensor cameras in his habitat in the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson.
“I approached Steven Eye of Solar Culture Gallery to inquire about using the space on the side of their building for the mural, and he suggested that Kati paint it. I saw a stunning painting she had done of an iguana, very detailed and vivid, and I knew right away she would do a great job with the jaguar,” Serraglio adds.
[click on all images to enlarge]
Artist Kati Astraeir with the jaguar mural
Astraeir calls herself a “multimedia visionary and mystical artist.” Her approach to art and life fit well with this magnificent creature that was once viewed as a deity by the pre-Columbian Maya and Aztec civilizations. Astraeir tells us that she began the mural with a dream. “At the beginning before I was just starting, I had a very powerful dream. I am in nature and I am seeing a jaguar sitting on top of a rock, staring intently at me. We are having a deep look into each other’s eyes, and with my awareness I could zoom in very closely. There was no fear dividing us. Later I drew a lot of power from this experience. The whole process was for me a great opportunity to reflect deeper and to move beyond my fears.” Astraeir is known not only for her painting, but also for her photography which focuses primarily on nature subjects.
Serraglio’s response to Astraeir’s finished mural fits with her artistic vision, “She chose a composition that really gets to the heart of the spiritual connection between humans and jaguars that dates back thousands of years. The cat’s gaze is mesmerizing—its swirling green eyes bore right into your soul. The eye contact and the fact that it’s located at street level make it really powerful. I’ve seen many people stopping to take selfies with it.”
Serraglio adds that the jaguar in the mural is actually a female, not El Jefe. The hope is that by protecting El Jefe’s habitat, more jaguars will find their way north from Mexico to live in the Santa Ritas. The best development would be for El Jefe to find a mate and start a family here. At the present time, El Jefe is the only known jaguar in the United States.
The jaguar is the largest cat in the Western Hemisphere. A fully-grown male like El Jefe can weigh up to 200 pounds. Only lions and tigers are larger. At one time, the jaguar roamed throughout South America, and as far north as the central and southern United States. But loss of habitat, fur hunting and bounties on their heads decimated jaguar populations. Thanks to the efforts of the Center for Biological Diversity, this very big cat was listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1997. Eventually (after being sued three times by the Center), Fish and Wildlife agreed to grant protected habitat status and a recovery plan for the jaguar.
Serraglio’s response to Astraeir’s finished mural fits with her artistic vision, “She chose a composition that really gets to the heart of the spiritual connection between humans and jaguars that dates back thousands of years. The cat’s gaze is mesmerizing—its swirling green eyes bore right into your soul. The eye contact and the fact that it’s located at street level make it really powerful. I’ve seen many people stopping to take selfies with it.”
Serraglio adds that the jaguar in the mural is actually a female, not El Jefe. The hope is that by protecting El Jefe’s habitat, more jaguars will find their way north from Mexico to live in the Santa Ritas. The best development would be for El Jefe to find a mate and start a family here. At the present time, El Jefe is the only known jaguar in the United States.
The jaguar is the largest cat in the Western Hemisphere. A fully-grown male like El Jefe can weigh up to 200 pounds. Only lions and tigers are larger. At one time, the jaguar roamed throughout South America, and as far north as the central and southern United States. But loss of habitat, fur hunting and bounties on their heads decimated jaguar populations. Thanks to the efforts of the Center for Biological Diversity, this very big cat was listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1997. Eventually (after being sued three times by the Center), Fish and Wildlife agreed to grant protected habitat status and a recovery plan for the jaguar.
Mountain Caribou mural. Photo courtesy Center for Biological Diversity
The Center for Biological Diversity’s efforts to help the jaguar recover continues to this day. The most recent threat to jaguar habitat in the Santa Ritas is the proposed Rosemont Copper Mine. At this time, The U.S. Forest Service has not (yet) given approval for the mine. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has issued an opinion that allows the Rosemont mine to be built despite numerous studies which indicate how devastating Rosemont would be for the jaguar and other species.
As a consequence, on June 30, 2016, the Center for Biological Diversity announced that it is suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act. Serraglio adds, “Unfortunately, Fish and Wildlife’s decision was based in politics rather than science, and it ignored the conclusions of the agency’s own scientists, who determined that the mine should not be permitted.” Allowing the mine to be built would result in a 3,000-foot deep open pit, create billions of tons of toxic mine waste, and drastically reduce surface water and also ground water through pumping.
Lawsuits aren’t the only way to fight extinction of our magnificent creatures. That’s where art comes in. Tucson’s jaguar mural is just the latest in the Center for Biological Diversity’s Endangered Species Mural Project. According to Tierra Curry, Senior Scientist at the Center, the first mural, a mountain caribou, was completed in Sand Point, Idaho, in May 2015. “We now have eight murals up, including the jaguar. The Pink Mucket Pearly Mussel was completed in Knoxville, Tennessee, in June, and the White Fringeless Orchid is scheduled to be painted in Berea, Kentucky in July.”
As a consequence, on June 30, 2016, the Center for Biological Diversity announced that it is suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act. Serraglio adds, “Unfortunately, Fish and Wildlife’s decision was based in politics rather than science, and it ignored the conclusions of the agency’s own scientists, who determined that the mine should not be permitted.” Allowing the mine to be built would result in a 3,000-foot deep open pit, create billions of tons of toxic mine waste, and drastically reduce surface water and also ground water through pumping.
Lawsuits aren’t the only way to fight extinction of our magnificent creatures. That’s where art comes in. Tucson’s jaguar mural is just the latest in the Center for Biological Diversity’s Endangered Species Mural Project. According to Tierra Curry, Senior Scientist at the Center, the first mural, a mountain caribou, was completed in Sand Point, Idaho, in May 2015. “We now have eight murals up, including the jaguar. The Pink Mucket Pearly Mussel was completed in Knoxville, Tennessee, in June, and the White Fringeless Orchid is scheduled to be painted in Berea, Kentucky in July.”
Randy Serraglio (left), Kati Astraeir (center) and Mariachi Alma Mexicana. Photo courtesy of Kati Astraeir
One of the most interesting mural projects was unveiled in Los Angeles in April. The mural of endangered yellow-billed cuckoos was painted by artist Jess X. Chen and students and art teachers from the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex. Many of the student artists have family members who followed the same migration path from Central America as do the yellow-billed cuckoos. As one student said, “That’s our story up there on that wall.” There is also a plan to create a mural of Colorado River fish on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona, but that project has not yet begun.
As for our jaguar mural in Tucson, the tagging began before the mural was even completed. Artist Kati Astraeir, who came to Tucson nearly 10 years ago from Poland, tells us, “My piece got tagged few times which was very hard to deal with. One day someone tagged the eyes with a green marker, and for the exact timing of the New Moon and total Solar Eclipse, I was painting them over with black, and the eyes of the new awareness had to emerge. I had to process it myself, moving from feeling very sad, and after a while I realized that this someone just did me a favor, because this is something that needed to happen, seeing a perfect order in things.”
The mural was unveiled at a celebration at Borderlands Brewery on May 19. Mariachi Alma Mexicana provided music.
To learn more about Kati Astraeir’s art, go to: KatiAstraeir.com
The Center for Biological Diversity is at: BiologicalDiversity.org