Monca displays bird exhibit

“A bird does not sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song,” said Maya Angelou.

The staff at The Museum of Northern California Art are celebrating the museum’s new exhibit, “For The Love of Birds”, which runs until March 19, in collaboration with the Snow Goose Festival of the Pacific Flyway. The museum has been partnering with the festival since 2020.

“It’s a broad and diverse group of work,” said Kimberly Ranalla, marketing point person for monca. Ranalla also serves as president of the monca board of directors. She is a painter and sculptor herself.

Artist Beatrice Richer submitted a painting to the show. It is an acrylic on canvas featuring birds with a beautiful mishmash of colors. Richer said she is inspired by nature and birds.

“Honestly, it’s a really cool exhibit,” Richer said. “I love birds and all of the snow geese and migratory birds in the Pacific Flyway. I wanted to make a painting to reflect that.”

Richer lives in Roseville but goes back and forth between Roseville and Chico. Richer has also contributed some murals in Butte County. One of her murals

is featured at an ice cream shop In Oroville. She also has a owl mural in Red Bluff and a mural at Fairview High School.

“Nature and birds are a huge part of my life,” said Richer. “I love watching wild birds. I would categorize them when I was a kid. And I always liked to paint and draw. Everyone knows me in town as the bird lady!”

Richer can be found on

Facebook under Beatrice Richer and on Instagram under beatrice.richer. Her website can be found at beatricericher.com.

“I’m happy to see people interested in these types of works,” said Richer. “More power to local artists. There is so much talent in town. It’s pretty amazing.”

The birds depicted are “real or imaginary, wild or not so wild,” according to monca’s website.

The exhibit had its grand opening Jan. 27, which the museum said was attended by 359 people.

The exhibit showcases a variety of work regarding migratory and other types of birds, and includes different mediums such as photos, paintings, mosaics, metal, quilts and even a piece consisting of bird watch parts. The artists hail from Chico and the surrounding areas but also come from other parts of Northern California, including San Jose and some cities close to the Nevada border.

Some of the work displayed is for sale. Anyone interested in buying a piece should talk to the staff.

More information about the exhibit and about monca itself can be found at https://www.monca.org/ posts/show-item/monca-exhibitions/. Monca opened five years ago.

Monca is located at 900 Esplanade. The phone number is 487-7272. MONCA’s hours are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monca can be found on Facebook under Museum of Northern California Art (monca), on Instagram under moncamuseum and on LinkedIn under Museum of Northern California Art (monca).

PHOTOS BY JENNIE BLEVINS — ENTERPRISE-RECORD Beatrice Richer’s piece called “Turbulence” is pictured Thursday at monca’s exhibit “For the Love of Birds” in Chico.

Rachel Leibman’s piece called “Night Birds” made up of parts from watches and some other materials is pictured Thursday at the Museum of Northern California Art’s exhibit “For the Love of Birds” in Chico.

Chico artist Nadia Kosheleff-Browne’s piece called “Juicy” is pictured Thursday at the Museum of Northern California Art’s exhibit “For the Love of Birds” at monca in Chico.

Gwen Nelson’s mosaic depiction of Big Bird from Sesame Street, which is called “Big Bird,” is pictured Thursday at monca’s exhibit “For the Love of Birds” at monca in Chico.