Water Birds

Community collage project made from recycled paper. June 2026.

This is a community art-making project created for a week-long open studio event at the White Bear Center for the Arts Ford Family Gallery. Participants were invited to make a block to contribute to a paper collage project with images of Minnesota water birds including an egret, mallards, red-winged blackbird, wood duck, and kingfisher. The project was supported by a grant from the Rice Creek Watershed district.

The complete piece is two identical panels. Each panel is 64 inches square, made up of a grid of 8×8 smaller blocks. Participants were asked to fill in the sections like a paint-by-number, with color groups assigned to each section. The final image was a secret until the end, to encourage people to be creative and think outside the box. I was the choreographer for the project. I created the illustration, broke it up into the individual blocks, and I worked in the studio along side the community artists to help sort papers and make sure every piece got to its assigned location.

The pieces will be on view at White Bear Center for the Arts through June 2026.