For many New Yorkers, pigeons are a nuisance: dirty, thieving, and constantly in our paths. But artist and animal rights advocate Tina Piña Trachtenburg, better known as Mother Pigeon, is challenging this popular conception by making the oft-reviled creatures the subject of her art.
Originally from Texas, Trachtenburg moved to NYC in the late 1980s and was immediately taken with the flying city-dwellers. Now she carries a sack of bird feed with her wherever she goes, like a modern-day Mary Poppins "Bird Woman". Instead of moving people with song, however, she moves them with street art installations of her acrylic felt pigeon sculptures, which prove to any passersby that pigeons can be beautiful.
If you want to have your vision of pigeons revolutionized and catch Mother Pigeon living our her dreams, follow the artist on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and catch her in person regularly in Union Square Park.
Originally published on March 2nd, 2016
Maggie Jeffers
Contributing Writer
Maggie is a recent graduate of Vassar College, where she majored in English and learned that she has no tolerance for the Poughkeepsie cold. She loves all things related to food, TV, movies, and music, and enjoys playing the violin and surfing the web in her spare time.
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