Client: Gallery Route One

Overview

This was a community art project and residency in Point Reyes Station, CA, to do a public art project with school children and the community in the Commons, a small park on Main Street in this small coastal village in Marin County, north of San Francisco. The artwork consisted of a large nest with many handmade paper feathers with messages about the environment and seeds to feed the birds in the paper pulp. Many smaller nests were also made and “feathered” and hung in trees along the main street.

Goals

The artwork was designed by the artist to be a multi-part collaborative project that could involve many people and school children and get them actively engaged in the process of creating this sculpture installation. Some made paper, some built nests and most everyone participated by writing their wishes for the environment and hopes for the birds in the area.

Process

The artist worked with Gallery Route One, a non-profit cooperative gallery in Point Reyes Station, and was hosted for the residency by Lucid Art Foundation in nearby Inverness, CA. The artist worked in the local school, West Marin School, to teach papermaking to the students and involve them in the public art project. The cooperation of the town council and merchants also made this project possible.

Additional Information

The project remains on view in the Commons and along Main street in Point Reyes Station until it biodegrades and continues to feed the birds as the handmade paper feathers containing bird seeds dissolve into compost with the winter rains. More feathers and more messages will be added by participants. Children and adults enjoy going inside the nest to contemplate and to read all the messages written by public participants.