A Laurentian University building that's been touted for its sustainable design is now also safer for the area's avian population. A new mural on the Vale Living With Lakes Centre helps make several windows on the building visible to birds so they don't crash into the glass and die. "It's a mural about the bird clans of this region," said second-year master's student Sam Barry, the mural's creator.
"So because we're on Anishinabek land, I wanted to acknowledge the Bird Clan teachings that I received. So we have the crane, the eagle and the loon." Barry also tried to place the birds in a way that communicated their teachings of honesty, hope and love, they explained.
New mural at Living With Lakes Centre aims to prevent bird strikes 11 minutes ago Duration 1:05 Two-spirit artist Sam Barry shows us their mural at Laurentian University’s Vale Living With Lakes Centre. The artwork is meant to deter birds from hitting the windows. It was funded through Laurentian’s Environmental Stewardship Committee and Coalition for a Liveable Sudbury.
Barry painted the mural in white to make it easy for birds to see it. Barry, a two-spirit queer artist, has been creating art since they were a child, encouraged by their mother. They took art classes in high school, then got a commission painting a mural for Laurentian Pride.
"It kind of went from there," they said. "I have some community contracts now. And yeah.
And then I was asked to do this one." A great way to save birds and money The chair of the Laurentian Environmental Sustainability Committee, which instigated the mural project, said Barry's mural was a great way to save both birds and money. The committee has been looking for ways to make glass safe for birds bird-safe on campus since last year, explained Avery Morin, who's entering her last year of neuroscience at the university.
Other windows are covered with simple dot strips, she said. "They are a little bit expensive, so we wanted to look for a bit of a cheaper option and a conversation starter. And so to have a beautiful mural that talks about Indigenous art and bird safety and showcases birds was important to us.
" Avery Morin, left, chairs Laurentian's Environmental Sustainability Committee. She says the next windows to be made bird-safe will be in the arboretum. (Warren Schlote/CBC) It was also important to involve students in the initiative, she said.
Decisions about which windows to make bird-safe and when they have been data-driven, Morin said, based on spread-sheets kept by several staff members. "We picked sort of the most popular windows on the lower level," she said. "Our next step is to work on the Arboretum.
We just received dot strips for that building up on main campus, and it receives a lot of bird strikes." New mural at UWindsor student centre aims to prevent bird collisions This Ojibwe artist recruited 120 people to help paint a mural at an Ontario university Barry is already getting set to launch another new project this week, they said. It's a collaborative work for Myths and Mirrors Community Arts, which will be unveiled on Tuesday.
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