Meet Me and the Wingers
Following the creation of Love Is Lost street art, I had another idea for a community art project — to create around 20 bird boxes, each made from unusual objects and each with its own story.
Creating around 20 individual bird boxes and all the supporting artwork single-handedly would have been overwhelming. During Covid, talented artists around Manchester were invited to become involved.
Created the original idea for the bird-box project.
Invited talented Manchester artists to create the individual boxes.
Developed the idea of giving each bird its own illustrated story.
Connected the physical bird boxes to digital content.
Worked with local people to install the boxes.
Worked with shops and businesses to find locations for the artwork.
Following the creation of Love Is Lost street art, another community art idea emerged — around 20 bird boxes, each made from unusual objects and each with its own story.
The idea was to install them around Chorlton over one evening. Visitors would be able to scan QR codes to read each bird's story, see an illustration and follow a map showing where all the boxes were located.
The response completely exceeded my expectations. Within a couple of months, the bird boxes started arriving and the quality of both the boxes and illustrations was incredible.
We received huge support from members of the community, with people helping to install the bird boxes and local businesses happily giving us space outside their premises.
The project created friendships, boosted people's confidence and gave people a sense of purpose during an incredibly challenging time. The idea was later replicated by an artist in London, Naughty, who brought in artists including Damon Albarn to create a similar project — initially frustrating, but a reminder that the original idea had come from me in the first place.
A selection of the bird boxes made and installed around Chorlton, each one built by a different artist from unusual objects.
Every bird box came with its own illustrated character and story — the individual artwork created for the Wingers.
