Every year, there are two major migration events. Birds, insects, fish, and other mammals head north in the spring to nest and breed and return south in the winter to feed and raise their young. Using BirdCast, a tool that’s active seasonally and allows anyone to see bird migration “heat maps” around the U.S., ornithologists tracked a record-breaking one billion birds migrating on a single October night in 2023 (last year, that number reached 1.2 billion). But on the night spanning October 4 to 5, something else really big happened: nearly 1,000 birds died in Chicago after hitting a single building.

McCormick Place Lakeside Center is situated along the Lake Michigan shoreline, set apart from many other buildings in a park-like space, and it has roughly enough windows to cover two football fields. As birds cruise along the shore, flitting over greenery, they sometimes mistake the reflections of nature in glass for the real thing. On the morning of October 5, hundreds of birds fell victim to architecture.

When artist and educator Holly Greenberg heard this news, she was stunned. No stranger to nature and long interested in sustainability and the environment, she was nevertheless totally unaware of the scale of bird collisions in the U.S. During a day out in a Chicagoland arboretum, during a sabbatical from her role as assistant professor at Syracuse University, she worked with a group to remove invasive buckthorn and make room for native trees. A fellow volunteer rued the sad irony of planting new bird habitat when the feathered creatures try to fly into their reflections in glass instead.

“That was the first time that I’d heard that these birds were crashing into windows in Chicago,” Greenberg says. When she later read about the mass collision at McCormick Place, she thought, “Oh man, something needs to be done.” That’s when the multi-year project Bird Collisions in the Anthropocene was born.

Greenberg launched the initiative in 2024 to not only raise awareness of the problem but also to educate people about preventing incidents. Using data from the Chicago Field Museum and with the help of its lead ornithologist Dave Willard, Greenberg landed on a specific number: 10,863. That’s how many were found dead after hitting Chicago buildings in 2023 alone.

It’s estimated that around one billion birds die in window collisions annually throughout North America. One of the organizations working to collect this data and—just as importantly—to protect, rescue, and advocate for avians is the Chicago Bird Collision Monitors (CBCM) program. Every morning, volunteers walk the streets of the city to count and collect fallen individuals, taking them to wildlife sanctuaries for treatment or rehabilitation where possible. Most, however, don’t survive the impact.

Paul Groleau, president of a company called Feather Friendly that makes bird-safe window treatments, suggests that many more die from window impacts than we realize. Greenberg hears people at her workshops say things like, “I heard a bird hit my window, but it flew off, so it’s fine.” Groleau, however, posits that about 60 percent of birds that are stunned do not survive. Their skulls are paper-thin, and if they don’t hemorrhage, they may sit under some shrubbery as they try to recover, which makes them more vulnerable as prey.

When the CBCM volunteers find dead specimens, they take them to the Field Museum, where the bodies become part of an archive Willard has overseen for decades. Many are preserved in the museum collection, each tagged and identified. At the very least, they are added to a carefully tended data set, which lists thousands upon thousands specifically killed by impacting windows at speed.

10,863 is the number Willard had recorded in 2023. Of course, the actual number of birds that collided with windows that year is exponentially higher, but the figure reflects the number that Willard and the CBCM volunteers found. And it’s the exact number that Greenberg is getting thousands of people to help recreate from fabric and glue. At the same time, she’s sharing knowledge about collisions with others through craft, science, advocacy, and social practice.

Starting with a small grant and a group of interns at Syracuse University, Bird Collisions in the Anthropocene began with the list of avians from the Field Museum, some basic crafting supplies, and photographs of individual birds so that makers could replicate the actual species. Eventually, Greenberg relocated to Evanston, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, and opened a studio where she hosts workshops and processes birds that are sent in from all over North America.

Workshops are facilitated across the U.S. and Canada, and so far, a total of more than 140 have been held. Materials can be downloaded from the website, and anyone can host a workshop. Popular locations include public libraries and schools. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which is behind the BirdCast tool, has even launched a pilot program to send hundreds of sew-a-bird kits to biology teachers in New York State in order to complete a core education requirement.

The hands-on, participatory, and very communal aspect of the bird workshops is fundamental to the project’s success. Greenberg opens her studio to the public on the first Saturday of every month as part of the Evanston Made program, and private gatherings can be organized, too. “People get into the flow, no one is touching their phone, and everyone is super concentrated,” Greenberg says. “They’re working with awkward materials, and it’s a mess, but it’s a good creative mindset.”

Studies have shown that hands-on or experiential learning is linked to greater knowledge retention, attentiveness, experimentation, and more. As people create their house sparrows, dark-eyed juncos, golden-crowned kinglets, and many more—and one’s level of technical skill is no matter—a sense of camaraderie builds around a common pursuit. Greenberg then provides resources about how to help prevent bird collisions, such as information about remediation technologies.

Businesses like Feather Friendly make products that can be applied directly to any window, most commonly in the form of small vinyl dots. It also offers Bird Divert, which uses clear dots that are actually hard for us to see, but due to the way birds’ vision works, the application helps them to differentiate between architecture and nature. Fritted glass is another method, which involves ceramic details baked right onto the surface of the glass.

Greenberg sees the artistic potential in the remedial window coverings, and she has previously invited artist Taro Takizawa to apply beautiful organic lines made of hand-cut vinyl on the top windows of her Evanston studio. For a forthcoming social project this summer, Greenberg plans to install different types of remediation dots on the large storefront windows of the space, plus an installation by artist Alice Hargrave, who creates abstract works using the sound waves of bird calls.

While the official number of finished birds is currently at 3,451, Greenberg estimates there are at least 1,000 more awaiting tagging and entry into the project’s handwritten ledger, which is reminiscent of museum catalogues before computerized records came into widespread use. With the help of a team of interns, she labels each bird individually with its species name, its artist, and where it “flew” in from. And installation opportunities abound.

Eventually, the birds will create one giant “carpet” to illustrate not only the poignant and urgent reality of bird collision deaths, but the power of collective action. In the meantime, groups of the fabric critters go on view occasionally in other exhibitions. One of these is Chicago Architecture Center’s forthcoming show, Flyway City, which “aims to catalyze positive change on making cities safer and more welcoming for birds and diverse wildlife” by focusing on how architecture can help to protect avians from the get-go.

The exhibition is organized by Studio Gang, whose lead architect, Jeanne Gang, has also encouraged the city of Chicago to enact building codes that are more bird-friendly. While Evanston has an ordinance that requires bird-friendly building design, Chicago does not yet, although it’s been on the table many times. Greenberg hopes that continued advocacy and information-sharing empowers others to speak up, too, so that these types of changes will be seen in more communities all over North America.

Flyway City runs from June 11 to January 3, 2027, in Chicago. Keep updated about workshops and other ways to get involved by following Greenberg’s Instagram.

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If you want to participate in Pat Perry’s new photo project, you’ll have to get comfortable heading outside, grabbing a few friends, and preparing to hunt low and high for obscure spots in your neighborhood. The Detroit-based artist recently launched “Liminal Bingo,” a communal photo hunt designed specifically “for people ages 5 to 105 living in boring places or exciting places.”

Open to anyone with an internet connection, the project has a simple premise: grab a camera (phones are okay, although Perry encourages film if possible), and snap photos of his illustrated prompts. When you’ve collected five in a row, you’ve got a bingo!

The instructions, though, are less straightforward than the premise, requiring participants to gather with friends, speak to passersby, and generally get out into the world and interact with one another. One asks you to capture a handshake with a stranger as you both wear sunglasses. Another invites you to send a landscape photo to someone you miss and share the evidence via screenshot. When you’ve collected five, post your images on Instagram or send them to Perry via email.

Photos submitted by August will be considered for inclusion in a fall exhibition at Hashimoto Contemporary in New York and a potential book. Find FAQs and more information on participating on the project’s website.

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“Paintings arrive at the studio in all states of disrepair,” shares art conservator Julian Baumgartner, who receives artworks in need of attention all the time. He adds, “It is, however, odd to have a painting arrive in a manner that can’t help but make one wonder just how bad it is.” An anonymous portrait was indeed folded inside a parcel that itself had been mangled enough in transit to make one think, Is this going to be salvageable? For the highly trained painting restorer, though, “Fortune favors the fold.”

Baumgartner has seen his fair share of bad overpainting and, in this case, pretty substantial creases, tears, and worn-away paint. He runs Baumgartner Fine Art Restoration, a Chicago-based studio focused on ensuring that works of art are conserved and repaired so future generations can continue to enjoy them. With painstaking attention to detail and—just as importantly—the use of reversible, archival materials, this neglected portrait is given what seems like an almost miraculous second chance.

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Oceans cover nearly three-quarters of our planet, containing a staggering 96.5 percent of its water. And despite our ever-advancing technologies and cartographic tools, we’ve still only mapped about a tenth of the earth’s oceans. There’s so much we have yet to see or understand, but our reliance on things like fossil fuels and single-use plastics continue to have an indelible impact on the health of marine wildlife and habitats.

Arch Enemy Arts’ forthcoming exhibition, Common Waters, brings these concerns to the fore. From the ethereal weirdness of jellyfish to the delicate branches of corals, the works not only touch on the incredible biodiversity below the surface, but also remind us of the ocean’s power and how human actions can have dire consequences. And while the show takes a playful approach, with an emphasis on beauty and even quirkiness, there is an undeniable aura of anxiety and even sadness—an undercurrent that carries an urgent message.

Many works in Common Waters are fantastical, such as Gerlanda di Francia’s coral-haired siren or Juliet Schreckinger’s octopus being conveyed over the waves by (hopefully) helpful birds. You’ll also find miniature paintings inside of a vintage compact by Shannon Taylor, a sculpted paper relief of a graceful sea turtle by Marisa Aragón Ware, and a matryoshka-like fish coming up for air by Veks Van Villik, plus many more.

The exhibition is presented in collaboration with PangeaSeed, a non-profit that bridges art and science to educate the public about—and advocate for—conserving our oceans. The exhibition brings together works by 60 artists from around the world, focusing predominantly on square-format pieces, all of which draw our attention to some aspect of marine life. A portion of sales proceeds will be donated to PangeaSeed to help with their mission to get people excited about protecting the planet.

Common Waters runs from June 5 to July 5 in Philadelphia. See more on Arch Enemy Arts’ Instagram.

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Nestled amid plants native to the U.K., a giant figure of Gaia, or Mother Nature, sleeps in a verdant garden. With willow-branch locks shaped by artist Tom Hare and a crown of leaves, the figure’s face and shoulders are made from a fallen mature tree carved by Tim Wood. A winding pathway leads beneath an arch that extends the character’s torso, created in the tradition of dry stone walls and meticulously assembled by the family-run outfit Noble Stonework.

You’ll find Gaia in a garden titled “On the Edge” at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which has taken the top prize of Garden of the Year. The project is a collaboration between designer Sarah Eberle and Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), which champions the countryside and the sustainable practices necessary to protect and preserve its ecosystems.

For this year’s exhibit, Eberle emphasized “edgelands,” or spaces between rural and urbanized areas like the borders of fields or even residential gardens. Think roadside berms or the seemingly unruly growth beside a canal. Often, these spots just look like a lot of weeds. Eberle sees not only the beauty, but the value, in these overlooked areas.

“These spaces connect millions of people to nature in everyday life, yet they’re undervalued and under constant pressure,” CPRE says in a statement. “This garden is an invitation to see them differently: not as ‘leftover’ land, but as living places that can recover and thrive with the right care.” Eberle’s choice of plants has a slightly wild aesthetic, with vines taking over the stone arch—redolent of the U.K.’s historic stone bridges—and a graceful yet somehow satisfyingly chaotic arrangement of plants we might associate with untamed overgrowth.

The garden’s design encourages people to consider using natural materials, cultivating local plants to help pollinators, and embracing “flaws” like old stumps or rocky areas that can be havens for wildlife. Amid nature’s innate rhythms, Gaia is a gentle protector who snoozes calmly with everything in balance. Eberele describes the effect: “A sense of abundance, a landscape under repair, the beauty in the ordinary. It’s about how it makes you feel—it’s almost a homecoming, an embrace, a hug.”

The Chelsea Flower Show is the flagship event of the Royal Horticultural Society, and it has been held on the grounds of the Royal Hospital since 1913, with the exception of a few skipped seasons during the two World Wars and in 2020. It’s not just limited to British gardeners, however: exhibitors from around the globe conceive of some of the most creative gardens imaginable. Tickets are available on the RHS website, and the show continues through May 23 in London.

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Incorporating nearly two tons of porcelain fragments, a monumental pair of vessels spills out into a pool of lustrous green. Shards of broken cups and saucers, pots, and other voluptuous forms blanket the gallery of the Green-House at Green-Wood for a new installation by Jean Shin.

Celadon Landscape is one of the latest projects in which the artist transforms a singular material into a sprawling sculpture. Found objects that bear traces of their former purposes and users are prized possessions in Shin’s New York studio, as these often-discarded items are nested into dynamic works that consider the relationship between consumption, environmental care, and community.

Green-Wood presents the second iteration of Celadon Landscape, which originated during the artist’s visits with ceramicists and makers in South Korea. Celadon production has a lengthy history in the region and dates back to at least the 10th century. As Shin encountered the heaps of imperfect pieces these artisans had cast aside, she found the pale green-blue material an apt metaphor for belonging, repair, and the diaspora.

“Celadon vases occupy a prized place in Korean cultural history—objects of reverence, painstakingly made and carefully preserved,” the artist says. “In Celadon Landscape, I shift the gaze to what is usually discarded: thousands of broken ceramic shards. I see in their imperfection not loss, but beauty—fragments that still pulse with the memory of Korea’s enduring legacy.”

With materials donated by studios in and near the city of Icheon, Shin conceived of two bulbous vessels cloaked in patterned, painted, stamped, and textured bits of pottery. Resting on their sides, the mosaic forms appear to emerge from the earth below, as if they’ve been uncovered in an archaeological dig. None of the vessels—the original pieces or the large-scale reconstructions—is presented whole and unblemished, suggesting a fragmentation that doesn’t disappear but rather is made anew.

Fabricated by Miotto Mosaics Art Studios, Inc., Celadon Landscape is on view through January 17 in New York, where Shin is based. Keep up with her projects on Instagram.

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When Valerie Lueth of Tugboat Printshop sets out to make a woodblock print, it’s rare that she only uses a single block. Instead, sometimes up to five distinctly carved pieces are incorporated, each containing different details that, when combined, create a total image. To make the prints, which are usually limited to editions of 100 or so, Lueth rolls the meticulously hand-carved blocks with colorful ink, layering them precisely in order. Black outlines define flora and fauna, for instance, which are first laid down as colorful shapes.

Tugboat Printshop is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and for a limited time, there’s a discount on original woodcut prints in the shop. Keep an eye out on the studio’s Instagram for updates about future editions, and Lueth is always sharing loads of making-of images on Flickr.

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In a distraction-free “dream lab,” Zendaya has carte blanche to create a new wardrobe in a short, stop-motion film written and directed by Spike Jonze. The advertisement, which announces a clothing line the actor co-created with apparel brand On, merges dance and playful optics as she maneuvers through some otherworldly trial and error.

You might also enjoy Jonze’s mind-melting dance video for Apple featuring FKA twigs.

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On a day pretty much like any other, a girl named Prue is out in a park with her baby brother when the unthinkable happens: he’s swept off by crows and taken into a mysterious forest known as the Impassable Wilderness. Joined by her classmate Curtis, Prue ventures into the magical, sylvan realm where animals have developed a complex society of their own. The search for Prue’s missing sibling plots the course for an epic adventure that is the heart of the young adult novel Wildwood. Soon, the story lights up the big screen.

The forthcoming feature-length film is based on an original story by Colin Meloy—the lead singer of The Decemberists, for the fans out there—and illustrated by Carson Ellis, who also happens to be his wife. (Ellis has also designed phenomenal posters, album covers, and merch for the band over the years.)

Wildwood is directed by Travis Knight and is in the hands of Portland-based LAIKA Studios, which is behind box office favorites like The Boxtrolls and Coraline. At the forefront of feature film animation, LAIKA emphasizes both human-made elements and cutting-edge technology, incorporating meticulously hand-built puppets and sets along with computer-generated graphics.

Through intensive study, LAIKA’s artists captured the movements, behavior, and physical appearance of birds for the film’s so-called Avian Principality, of which a character named Owl Rex is the crown prince.

“Performance starts with observation,” says the narrator of a behind-the-scenes featurette, which you can see below. An ensemble of voice actors includes Carey Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, Awkwafina, Angela Bassett, and many others.

The trailer is out now, and the film is slated for release everywhere on October 23. You might also enjoy peeking behind the scenes of the making of LAIKA’s Kubo and the Two Strings.

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Fusing elements of Persian architecture with Christian altarpieces, Arghavan Khosravi grapples with the structures and ideological strictures that shape our lives. The Iranian artist has long reckoned with women’s fight for equality, particularly amid censorship and religious dogma in her native country. Through vibrant gradients that radiate across her sculptural paintings, Khosravi entices the viewer into urgent, ongoing conversations about resistance and control.

Opening today at Uffner & Liu, What Remains presents a dynamic new body of work that captures moments of tension and strife. Figures, in Khosravi’s works, are often restricted and tethered to domestic objects and space, and critically, physically separated from one another. Complete with hinged shutters, suspended cords, and tiny visages tucked into unassuming openings, these new pieces incorporate women obscured by their surroundings, leaving only fragments of a limb or face visible.

While altarpieces have historically been utilized to share stories of the divine through visual depictions, Khosravi instead turns inward. She lives and works in Stamford, Connecticut, and her homesickness and longing for a changed Iran are strong. Large-scale works like “Bearing” portray a seated woman buttressing a Persian building, thick, black, oil-like liquid seeping from its foundation.

What Remains was already in progress before the U.S. war against Iran, the gallery shares. The works are therefore not in response to this particular conflict but rather a timely acknowledgment of what it means to live in a region continually in crisis. As always, Khosravi reminds us that even amid chaos, destruction, and government overreach that outlasts any singular emergency, beauty and self-empowerment can still trigger a new paradigm.

What Remains runs through July 2 in New York. Explore more of the artist’s politically attuned works on Instagram.

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