In October 2025 artist Julian Hume visited the Island and brought with him a canvas art mural commissioned by the Museum in 2019.

Julian had visited in November 2018 to research subfossil bird bones with the Museum Curator, Ian Hutton. Julian is an artist, but also a palaeontologist with the British Natural History Museum at Tring, in the United Kingdom, and has worked on extinct birds on many Indian Ocean islands. 

Members of the LHIHSM committee were impressed by Julian’s artworks representing pre-history landscapes of islands, with reproductions of birds that had become extinct since human discovery. They commissioned Julian to paint such a mural for the Environmental Gallery in the Island Museum. Julian completed the mural in 2020, but COVID and other matters delayed his visit with the painting.

In October, Julian brought his Lord Howe Island mural rolled up in a tube, and with the assistance of Anna and Craig Thompson, the canvas artwork was mounted and hung in the designated spot in the Environmental Gallery. 

While on the Island for a week, Julian also gave a number of presentations on his work around the world, including Lord Howe Island’s extinct birds. An evening presentation was held in the museum audio-visual room and was well attended by locals and tourists. The other event was a morning in the Environmental Gallery with the older school children. Here Julian showed the bones of the extinct birds and where they fitted onto the painting of the island’s extinct birds. This event went for an hour with students enthralled by Julian and his passion for islands and birds.

Julian continued his research with the Curator, Ian Hutton, on the study of Lord Howe Island’s extinct bird bones, which are held in the Museum.

The Historical Society intends to have poster prints made of Julian’s mural for sale in the museum shop.