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The Arts Intel Report

For the Birds

Studio Barnes, Fly South.

June 11 – Oct 23, 2022
990 Washington Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11225, United States

A treasure hunt awaits in the beautiful Brooklyn Botanical Garden. Through late October, a flock of artist-made birdhouses (33 of them) can be found throughout the grounds. This outdoor exhibition was organized by Rebecca Reagan, an L.A.-based executive producer, and Randall Poster, the acclaimed film and television music supervisor, as part of their “For the Birds: The Birdsong Project”—a 20-LP boxed set of avian-related song, music, writing, and art. It’s a perfect way to learn more about the garden and its feathered creatures. Fanciful, architectural, fun—these birdhouses are flights themselves. Micha Kahn’s is shaped like a caterpillar. Barry McGee’s is Op art. Chris Johanson has made a little rough-wood shed that has something of Joseph Cornell about it. Julie Peppito came up with a conceptual funhouse. And Studio Barnes offers Fly South, a stylized abode à la Miami Art Deco—pink, fuchsia, and mint green. A map of the birdhouses is available on the museum’s Web site, so if you can’t visit in person you can visit digitally (many are accompanied by musical selections from The Birdsong Project album). And just so you know, according to eBird, the spring of 2022 has seen 121 species in this wedge of green surrounding the Brooklyn Museum. Bring a picnic and make a day of it. —Laura Jacobs

Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Botanical Garden