Monarch butterfly sculptures on Fredericton bridge send environmental message
Public art installation by veteran and artist Gary Crosby aims to help endangered species
Thirty delicately carved monarch butterflies greet walkers and cyclists who cross Fredericton's Bill Thorpe Walking Bridge, which spans the Saint John River.
Each brightly painted wooden butterfly has a wing span of about two feet, and has been handmade by artist Gary Crosby.
The butterflies are one of Fredericton's temporary public art installations. This flutter of monarchs is part of a project Crosby calls A Splash of Colour.
"It could achieve all the aims I wanted to achieve with public art," Crosby said. "But at the same time have a message — an environmental message."
Angela Watson, cultural development officer for the City of Fredericton, said the public art selection committee was "enchanted" with Crosby's project.
"I think visually it's just a lovely, whimsical piece that we knew people would enjoy on the bridge," Watson said.
"This monarch butterfly display will also provide an opportunity to educate the public about the environment and the importance of plants and butterflies."
Retired veteran inspired by time in Germany, Rwanda
Crosby came up with the idea about a year ago but says his interest in sculpture and wood carving was inspired by his time in the military.
He spent four years in Germany's Black Forest, an area that is known for its iconic cuckoo clocks.
"Everything's painted, everything's carved, sculpted. There's art everywhere and it was four years of just being completely buried in art," he said.
A peacekeeping tour in Rwanda is where Crosby realized he could be a sculptor or carver. He was clearing out a university and came across a classroom where people had been learning woodcarving. The teacher had filled the room with his work.
"That's how he taught carving to all his students, because they could see each piece as it was being cut," Crosby said. "I looked at that and thought, 'I think I could do that.'"
It was at that moment that Crosby decided to take up woodcarving.
Monarch butterflies endangered in N.B.
On the walking bridge, cyclists, runners and families out for a walk can be seen stopping to look up at the butterflies.
And while many people in Fredericton can count on seeing Crosby's installation, seeing a real monarch is much less likely.
Ryan Godfrey from World Wildlife Fund Canada says there has been a 90 per cent decrease in the number of monarch butterflies found in Mexico over the last 30 years.
The monarch is one of the few butterflies that migrate from southern Canada to Mexico each year. Godfrey says this biological phenomenon makes them vulnerable to extreme weather events that are becoming more common due to climate change.
"Fewer monarchs are arriving back to their overwintering grounds and when they do, they're really stressed out. A lot of them are really beaten up, they might have holes in their wings or they might be a lot smaller."
Monarch butterflies were listed as endangered in New Brunswick and every other province except Newfoundland and Labrador on the species at risk registry in 2023.
"It's an indicator of a larger systemic problem in the ecology," Godfrey said. "What we might not be noticing is, hundreds of other species of insects that are also in decline and that are collectively a really important part of the food web."
According to Godfrey, the decline in monarch populations can be largely attributed to habitat loss, pesticides and climate change. He says planting "thousands of milkweeds," a plant that monarch caterpillars feed on, is the best way people can help.
"I really do believe that the monarch population would respond quickly to that," he said. "We could return the landscape to a habitat level that's similar to how it was hundreds of years ago."
Crosby, who spends a lot of time in his garden with his wife, hopes his project will inspire people to learn more about monarchs and to plant some milkweed in their own yards.
He already has plans for his installation, which will be on the bridge until October.
Crosby hopes to display his flutter of butterflies in cities around the province, and is planning to add other butterfly species to the project.
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