Wildlife Art Along Water Trail

Author: Jon Hurdle, Free Lance Writer & Regular Contributor to the New York Times

When the first kayakers paddle down the new Cooper River Water Trail after it officially opens in the fall of 2025, they will be guided by signs painted with some of the birds and insects that can be seen along the southern New Jersey river, and some of the fish that swim in it.

The wildlife illustrations are the work of Adriana Amador-Chacon, a Camden-based artist who was chosen by Upstream Alliance to depict the wildlife that lives in and around a river that many city residents have long believed was little more than a trash-filled drain.

In fact, the river hosts a surprising variety of the creatures depicted on 17 signs planned for the water trail, and together they represent an unexpected recreational and natural asset in the midst of a heavily developed urban area.

Adriana said she hopes her work will encourage people to discover the surprising natural riches of the area, and that the paintings will contribute to the renewal of a poor and heavily polluted city.

“There are a lot of cleanup programs in Camden now,” she said. “I want to activate that sense of responsibility. Because I’m a part of the city, I should also know that I have to take care of it.”

Time lapse of Adriana painting the Barnegat Lightship.

Upstream Alliance drew renewed attention on the Cooper River in the summer of 2022 when it ran a six-day expedition in kayaks and on foot to the source of the river near Lindenwold for four Camden teenagers and a crew of naturalists, film-makers and photographers.

Along the way, they watched bald eagles soaring, discovered a rare orchid in a flooded woodland, and caught fish in a river that many assumed was too choked with pollution to support much life.

The trip boosted plans to build a water trail that would encourage people to use the river and its surroundings, and to defend a previously neglected natural asset.

“By showing people what birds and insects they can see and what fish they can catch, we are hoping to inspire locals to connect with the trail and their natural landscapes in a more memorable and impactful way,” UA said in a statement.

The trail had a “soft” opening in October 2023; interpretive signage is due to be installed in the spring and summer of 2024, and a grand opening is scheduled for October 2025.

Striped Bass — UA chose Adriana to illustrate the signs because she is a local artist who could bring some of Camden’s culture to the water trail, UA said. “We couldn’t believe how perfectly her style not only captured colorful, vibrant Camden but also how beautifully and scientifically her illustrations depicted the animals,” it said.

Among the creatures depicted in Adriana’s work are the channel catfish, the bluegill sunfish, bald eagle, the cormorant, the polyphemus moth, and the bumble bee.

“This project is based on giving information on what can be seen on the water trail, and what fish people can expect to get out of the water,” she said.

Adriana hopes her work will encourage people to use the water trail so they can understand more about their natural environment, and simply to enjoy the outdoors.

“Find the time to exercise,” she said. “It helps release anything that’s pent up, especially with work stress. Just a moment outside will really help out someone’s morale during the day.”

The signs will be installed at various parks and launch sites along the water trail. They include Pyne Poynt Park, Gateway Park, Cooper River Park, a location near the Kaighn Avenue Dam, the Camden County Parks Department grounds, and Evans Pond.

Time lapse of Adriana drawing and painting a double-crested cormorant.

Despite her vivid depictions of wildlife, Adriana said she’s not primarily a wildlife artist. Rather, her work has focused on public art such as murals and sculptures that she sees as contributing to the public environment.

“I would lean more towards myself as someone who activates public space through murals or sculptures or community events,” she said. “My craft is mostly something to be shared.”

She has painted murals in Camden and across the Delaware River in Philadelphia where she has worked with the renowned Mural Arts Philadelphia program which has created some 4,000 professionally painted murals all over the city during the last 40 years.

Adriana’s mural work especially exposes her to community. “There are a lot of people coming up to you asking questions and talking about what’s happening,” she said. “Sometimes, people just start a random conversation.”

Camden, with a longstanding reputation as a poor and crime-ridden city, has begun to turn its back on that past over the last decade as big employers like American Water and Holtec have moved in, and some neighborhoods have begun to gentrify.

Time lapse of Adriana drawing and painting a Spotted Lanternfly

But a sense of “chaos” persists in some parts of Camden, and that shows the city still has work to do, said Adriana, 23. She’s unsure whether her work helping to draw attention to Camden’s surprising natural environment will address Camden’s underlying problems but she hopes it will open people’s eyes to a natural world they might not have expected.

“I don’t think this project was meant to create a solution for the real issues in Camden but it’s a way to inform the community a bit more,” she said.

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