Today: Giant Extinct Bird Sculptures at Waterfront Park | "Lost Bird Project"
June 16, 2010 — PDXPIPELINE
Lost Bird Project
Description: Artist Todd McGrain talks about why he decided to make six-foot-tall sculptures of five extinct species of birds, after learning their stories of extinction.
If you like to take pictures of Portland happenings, there is a great opportunity today at Waterfront Park. After you get some nice ones, add them to our Flickr group here.
From Portland Parks:
Birds are arriving in Waterfront Park today, but they're larger than usual!
Audubon Society of Portland installs giant, 700-pound bronze sculptures of extinct birds, including the Great Auk and the Carolina Parakeet, at the southern end of the park.
(Portland, OR) — An open air installation of enormous bronze bird sculptures is being installed in the garden at the southern end of Waterfront Park today, presented by the Audubon Society of Portland. The larger-than-life sculptures, each 5 feet to 7 feet tall and weighing up to 700 pounds, will stand on the grass where visitors can move among them, touch them and experience them directly.
What: Installation of the “Lost Bird Project”
When: Through 5 p.m. today, Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Where: South Waterfront Park Garden, (near the roundabout at the south end of RiverPlace Marina)
“The Lost Bird Project” is the work of artist Todd McGrain, who conceived the collection as a way to immortalize birds once plentiful, but now extinct. He chose to open in Portland because of its environmentally-friendly reputation. McGrain said his work is motivated by the beauty of the forms, and the opportunity to help maintain the memory of the birds. The artist will be present at a Community Day event and at the dedication on June 24.
The extinct bird figures include the Passenger Pigeon, the Great Auk, The Carolina Parakeet, the Labrador Duck and the Heath Hen, which fell victim to habitat conflicts and over-hunting in the last 100 years. The installation will remain in place through the end of December 2010.
