Berkshire Botanical Garden – The Lost Bird Project: Works by Todd McGrain
NOW THROUGH OCT. 6 (outdoor sculpture exhibit) AUG. 10 THROUGH OCT. 6 (indoor exhibition)
5 West Stockbridge Road Stockbridge, MA 01262
BerkshireBotanical.org

STOCKBRIDGE, MASS. — Berkshire Botanical Garden’s 2024 Art/Garden series continues in August in homage to North American birds that have been driven to extinction.

Todd McGrain’s “The Lost Bird Project” includes large-scale outdoor sculptures that are now onsite throughout the garden and an indoor gallery show that opens Saturday, August 10, which features smaller-scale versions of the same sculptures, supplemented with original drawings and other related artwork.

The public is invited to the opening reception on Saturday, August 10, from 5 to 7 pm.

The North American birds immortalized include the Passenger Pigeon, the Carolina Parakeet, the Labrador Duck, the Great Auk and the Heath Hen.

Both the indoor and outdoor exhibitions run through October 6.

“These bronze sculptures are subtle, beautiful and hopeful reminders,” said McGrain, of Portland, Ore. “The human scale of each outdoor sculpture elicits a physical sympathy. The smooth surface, like a stone polished from touch, conjures the effect of memory and time. I model these gestural forms to contain a taut equilibrium, a balanced pressure from outside and from inside — like a breath held in. As a group, they are melancholy yet affirming. They compel us to recognize the finality of our loss, they ask us not to forget them, and they remind us of our duty to prevent further extinction.”

Celebrating its 90th year, the 24-acre Berkshire Botanical Garden is located at 5 West Stockbridge Road. Its mission is to “provide information, education and inspiration concerning the science, art and joy of gardening and its role in preserving the environment.” The garden is open every day, 9 am to 5 pm.

For more information, 413-298-3926 or www.berkshirebotanical.org.

“The Lost Bird Project” recognizes the tragedy of environmental destruction by immortalizing North American birds driven to extinction. The exhibition includes outdoor sculptures and an indoor gallery show. The works “compel us to recognize the finality of our loss,” McGrain says. “They ask us not to forget them, and they remind us of our duty to prevent further extinction.”
Berkshire Botanical Garden’s Leonhardt Galleries are open seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.