MISSION, Site/Cite/Sight (DC), 2007
Washington,DC
Public artwork.
Workingman Collective: Tom Ashcraft, Janis Goodman, Peter Winant
30 bird houses and signs were installed in/on 30 trees along 14th street NW between P and U, in Washington, DC. The work addresses issues of habitat, attraction, inventory, and migration, specific to the 14th street corridor and a broader social context. Workingman Collective, working with the Migratory Bird Center, National Zoo, identified all songbirds common to the Northeast region that have been decimated by West Nile Virus and urban growth. The 30 bird houses were built specifically for three species of songbirds hardest hit by the virus: The Eastern Bluebird, Black Capped Chickadee, and Downy Woodpecker. The bird houses provide a habitat while the signs refer to "place" and are an awareness signal. Site/Cite/Sight, connotes an active social engagement that has purpose and sustainability, which is also an affirmation of the Central Union Mission, one of America's oldest social service ministries and located in the center of the 14th street site, and it's role in the community, "serving the needs of hurting people throughout the Washington Metropolitan Area."
