GG's Birdhouse Yard
Extant
East Lake, Atlanta, Georgia, 30317, United States
mid-1980s to present
While GG prefers to keep her address private, her Birdhouse Yard can be found in Atlanta's East Lake neighborhood.
About the Artist/Site
Dismayed by the development of property in her neighborhood, GG (who prefers to keep her name private) set out to create a safe and welcoming environment for local wildlife. What began as the addition of a few birdhouses to her property has exploded into a thriving metropolis of handcrafted bird highrises installed throughout her front and back yards and even spilling out into the median across from her home. These towering assemblages are constructed from a wide array of collected and found objects, including furniture, appliances, decorative tchotchkes, castoff lumber, and much more. She begins with one special object and then builds on and around it, working in her studio “until it’s complete to me,” she says. While every structure includes a space for a bird to take up residence, it’s clear that these intricately crafted pieces also serve as sites of focused creative expression and community dialogue. Interspersed throughout a verdant garden, these structures also project an important message of the power of reuse – that we can sustainably live and work in partnership with the nature around us.
A retired high school teacher, GG considers herself a steward to the land and a keeper of its history. She recognizes her property as the ancestral home of the Creek people and has observed the changing demographics of her neighborhood of nearly 40 years as it becomes gentrified. In addition to building a community for wildlife; however, GG’s installation also serves as a meeting place for neighbors and passersby. She describes her yard as “a living room for people and nature,” – it’s boundary marked by a bright pink fence embellished with reflective pieces of mirror. “Society has become so distant. People don’t know how to approach others. I commune with nature and like to share it with whoever enjoys it,” she says.
Source:
- "Atlanta birdhouse sculpture calls yard "living room for people and nature," Emily Weyrauch, ArtsATL, 2019
Contributors
Materials
collected and found objects, lumber, caulk, paint, mirror
Map & Site Information
East Lake
Atlanta, Georgia, 30317
us
Latitude/Longitude: 33.7475043 / -84.3002864
Nearby Environments
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