Resilience in Flight: Recent paintings by Kellyann Monaghan Documenting at Risk Yet Resilient Birds in Flight and in Movement in Different Landscape Habitats

In August of 2025, artist Kellyann Monaghan spent the week exploring the grounds and archives of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute. These artworks, based on Monaghan’s studies during that week, depict at-risk yet resilient birds in flight across diverse landscapes. They draw on her close study of Peterson’s illustrations, photography, and bird specimens, with a particular focus on species from the Northeastern United States facing potential extinction and habitat threats.

For nearly a decade, Monaghan has explored themes of climate change, storms, and natural disasters in her landscape painting. Alongside this, she has maintained a longstanding commitment to plein-air painting, spending over twenty years capturing landscapes directly from life. She began this practice by painting urban rooftops in Philadelphia and New York City, and has since expanded her on-site work to include Upstate New York, southern France, New Mexico, Ireland, Cape Cod, and, most recently, California’s national parks, including Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Big Sur.

Kellyann Monaghan is a painter of landscapes depicted directly from nature and dramatic weather events, portraying nature’s power, awe, and beauty. She received her BFA from Moore College of Art and Design and her MFA from Brooklyn College, CUNY. Kellyann Monaghan exhibited her work in numerous solo and group shows nationally and internationally. In recent years, her work was on view at HOTE Gallery in Los Angeles, titled Where Do We Go From Here?, and featured at Lake George Art Center, titled Location, Location, Location. Other exhibitions of her work included Cynthia Winings’ Gallery ME, Starta Arta NYC, Cerulean Arts Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, Brooklyn Site Gallery, Edward Hopper Art Center, George Billis Gallery, NYC, Porter Gallery, and Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn Library. Kellyann Monaghan currently resides in Ridgewood, Queens, and is a Professor and Chair of Art at Adelphi University in Garden City, NY.

Link to her website:https://kellyannmonaghan.com/home.html

Artist credit: Kellyann Monaghan. Eastern Meadowlarks Quartet. Oil on panel, 2026.