Vanishing Kingdom | Racine Zoo Mural

May 2025 | Entrance of the Castle Building at the Racine Zoo | Racine, Wisconsin.

Painted in the entrance of the Racine Zoo’s Historic Castle Building, Vanishing Kingdom is a bold, colorful mural celebrating the animals who call that space home. Inspired by a childhood spent around animals—both parents were zookeepers—the mural features playful portraits of real-life residents, welcoming visitors and staff with warmth, curiosity, and energy.

Bright colors and friendly expressions turn the entrance into a lively, inviting moment—one that sets the tone for exploration and connection as soon as you arrive. Designed to feel open and approachable for all ages, the mural meets visitors where they are and invites them to look a little closer.

At its heart, Vanishing Kingdom is about noticing the animals around us today—and believing in a future where they continue to thrive alongside us.

Photos by Jim Sinicki | Charlie James Photo

Wide-angle panorama of the Vanishing Kingdom mural featuring tamarin family, gibbon, Amazon parrot, and orangutan at Racine Zoo, Wisconsin.
Artist Hannah Tews standing in stairwell of completed Vanishing Kingdom mural featuring colorful fossa, Amazon parrot, and orangutan.
Close-up angle of colorfully painted gibbon, part of the Vanishing Kingdom mural at the Racine Zoo, Wisconsin.
Vanishing Kingdom mural featuring a colorful mom tamarin and two baby tamarins in the Castle Building at Racine Zoo, Wisconsin.
Vanishing Kingdom mural featuring a colorful gibbon and a large-scale lion face in the Castle Building at Racine Zoo, Wisconsin.
Vanishing Kingdom mural featuring a colorful Amazon parrot and a large-scale orangutan face in the Castle Building at Racine Zoo, Wisconsin.
Muralist Hannah Tews painting the Vanishing Kingdom mural in the stairwell of the Castle Building at the Racine Zoo, Wisconsin.
Vanishing Kingdom mural featuring a colorful Amazon parrot in the Castle Building at Racine Zoo, Wisconsin.
Vanishing Kingdom mural featuring a colorful large-scale lion face in the Castle Building at Racine Zoo, Wisconsin.
Vanishing Kingdom mural featuring close-up of brightly colored details of orangutan in the Racine Zoo, Wisconsin.
Vanishing Kingdom mural featuring a colorful large-scale fossa face in the Castle Building at Racine Zoo, Wisconsin.
Vanishing Kingdom mural featuring close-up of brightly colored details of Amazon parrot eye in the Racine Zoo, Wisconsin.
Vanishing Kingdom mural featuring a colorful large-scale male orangutan face in the Castle Building at Racine Zoo, Wisconsin.
Vanishing Kingdom mural featuring close-up of brightly colored details of a tamarin face in the Racine Zoo, Wisconsin.
Cropped shot of artist Hannah Tews working on the Vanishing Kingdom mural inside the Castle Building at the Racine Zoo, Wisconsin.
Angle shot of Vanishing Kingdom mural featuring a colorful large-scale fossa face in the Castle Building at Racine Zoo, Wisconsin.
Angle shot showing close-up of gibbon face in Vanishing Kingdom mural at Racine Zoo, Wisconsin.
Muralist Hannah Tews in front of Vanishing Kingdom mural featuring large-scale male orangutan face at the Racine Zoo, Wisconsin.