Winged Shadows: Life Among Birds It is the birds’ independence from predictable patterns of human design that draws us to them. In the birds’ separate but related universe we are able to sense hope for ourselves. Barry Lopez About the Exhibit Winged Shadows: Life Among Birds exhibits ways contemporary artists celebrate and connect with their world by using birds as their subject. In some cases this exhibit and its materials may encourage youth to make informed decisions regarding global and community responsibility and to realize the moral and ethical obligation we have in sharing our world with wildlife. At the very least, this exhibit may inspire the young artists, musicians or writers among us. Winged Shadows: Life Among Birds is an exhibit that opened in Grand Forks at the Museum in the fall of 2011, a portion of which now travels as part of the Museum’s Rural Arts Initiative. The following materials help students make connections while they learn through the interaction with actual artworks. Students can practice abstract and concrete language and writing skills using birds as a theme as well as develop art skills while doing art activities. By conducting research, they will understand how artists form ideas and how important issues can be addressed by art. Images of birds have appeared in art throughout the ages. As long as 40,000 years ago Australian Aboriginal people scratched, carved and painted images of animals, some of them birds, on the walls of rocks an caves. Egyptians employed bird symbols in their hieroglyphs, the Bible refers to many bird species such as owls, ravens, and peacocks that represent meaning in historical and contemporary art and writing. Images and stories of birds have long appeared in Native American cultures. Birds have also been used in scientific and artistic ways that help us better understand our environment and our feelings toward nature in general. In fact, the development of the science of flight can be attributed to our interest and observation of birds. Musicians and composers have written music about birds, and writers have written lyrics, poems and stories about birds. We cannot deny the influence of birds upon us.
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