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The Lost Bird Project involves the extraordinary effort to place a series of public memorials to birds driven to extinction in modern times. As a chronicle of humankind's impact on our changing world and a moving record of dwindling biodiversity, The Lost Bird Project is an ode to vanished times and vanished species. The Great Auk, Labrador Duck, Passenger Pigeon, Carolina Parakeet, and Heath Hen once populated North America from the shores of Labrador and New York to the midwestern plains. Across the continent the skies were once nearly black with Passenger Pigeons whose disappearance, like the buffalo's, was thought to be inconceivable. As works of site-specific environmental art, the sculptures featured in The Lost Bird Project were placed in the location where the bird was last seen in the wild and are now permanent public sculpture installations at a wide range of sites, from Newfoundland to Florida, Ohio to Martha's Vineyard. Ten years in the making, The Lost Bird Project has been the subject of a feature-length documentary film that premiered in New York City in December 2011. 2:00 p.m., A. B. Ceder Room, ZOOM, and FACEBOOK LIVE! THE PROGRAM IS FREE BUT PLEASE PRE-REGISTER! Zoom participants will be given a link upon registration. Donations will be accepted to help defray the Conservation Center's programming expenses. https://white-memorial-conservation-center.square.site/product/the-lost-bird-project-with-todd-mcgrain/1671?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=trueAbout Our Speaker: For much of his professional life, McGrain has directed his strengths as a sculptor to The Lost Bird Project, large-scale public memorials dedicated to birds driven to extinction in modern times. This project has required that McGrain work closely with arts and conservation organizations. His attention to purpose, site, and audience has led to sculpture installations being warmly welcomed into the fabric of the communities to which they belong.
In addition to permanent installations, McGrain’s sculptures have toured extensively to museums, universities, and public gardens. They are included in several major collections in the United States and abroad.
McGrain’s work is the subject of the award-winning documentary film, The Lost Bird Project, produced by Middlemarch Films. This rewarding collaborative experience inspired McGrain to direct his own independent documentary film.
Elephant Path / Njaia Njoku chronicles two crucial years in the lives of one of the world’s last wild herds of forest elephants. Set in the Central African rainforest, against the backdrop of a violent civil conflict, Elephant Path / Njaia Njoku is a moving narrative and a call to action to protect this iconic and vanishing species. Elephant Path garnered recognition and praise at film festivals and through national and international broadcasts.
In addition to his environmentally focused work, McGrain has created several major commissions for Zen retreats and study centers.
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