why turkeys?

BrooklineTurkeys.com celebrates the Town of Brookline, Massachusetts and its freewheeling fearless feathered friends, aka our wild turkeys. Viewed by many as an invasive species, turkeys are actually native to this area and are simply returning home. But they didn't exactly receive a warm welcome, did they? Plenty of people feared them, distrusted them, hated them. At the time I started BrooklineTurkeys, it seemed like a full-on conflict. The Boston Globe published an article titled, "A Brief History of Brookline's War Against Turkeys", with reports of attacks, chasings, and strategies to handle confrontations.

But did all this stop the turkeys from living their turkascious lives? Heck, no. They continued to strut down the street, hold up traffic, block doors, and destroy mirrors. You’ve got to admit, that’s pure moxie. And perhaps this is why I so admired them.​ And perhaps this is why a majority of us now admire them. Or at least tolerate them.

Because it feels like, in these intervening years, the wild turkey has somehow worked its way into our guarded hearts. Town public projects (Turkeys Around Town, "I Voted" stickers) have demonstrated that they've (quite possibly) become the unofficial mascot of Brookline.

It's been quite a journey, Meleagris gallopavo. Welcome home.

for the love of posters

I’ve always been a big fan of travel posters from the 1920s and '30s. This art form encouraged us to enjoy life, whether it be to ski, to swim, play tennis or drink a good beer. When I decided to create a series of travel posters portraying the town I love, it seemed only natural to feature my beloved turkeys. Would it be a serious project, with grandiosity and gravity? Of course not. Although turkeys are gracefully geometric and beautifully colored (in the right light), they’re still utterly absurd. And so, ultimately, the posters carry that same silliness.

about the artist

​Caroline Barnes was training to become a biological illustrator before stepping into the wondrous world of web design. After 20 years she has returned to her illustration roots. Rather than using traditional pencils, pens, paints, and paper, she develops her concepts in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop using an Apple Pencil and a Wacom Tablet.​

Caroline Barnes
January 2025
​Brookline, Mass.