NASHVILLE – The Brown County Community Foundation and the Brown County Pollinators group unveiled a new mural and pollinator park in October on its Van Buren Street property in Nashville.
The mural on a large concrete retaining wall was created by Christina Hollering and features milkweed pollinators such as butterflies, milkweed tussock moth caterpillar, and a milkweed beetle. She said she wanted to remind viewers that milkweed plants are an ecosystem in and of themselves.
The National Wildlife Federation reports eastern monarch butterfly populations have declined 90 percent from their high in 1969 due to habitat loss. Milkweed and other natural habitat are removed to make way for roads, farms, and homes. The pollinators group has secured nearly 100 acres in Brown County for pollinator habitat restoration and created more than 2,000 milkweed seed bombs in the last year alone.
“We had been working with the Brown County Pollinators on capturing an acreage of milkweed across the county to turn into pollinator habitat, understanding that the populations of monarchs are in rapid decline,” Community Foundation CEO Maddison Miller said.
The pollinator park is next to the mural by Indianapolis artist Christina Hollering called Epic Flight, which was painted over plain concrete.
“It just seems natural that we would make our mural part of that project and highlight the importance of monarchs, milkweeds, and other pollinators in our community,” Miller said.
