As part of my artist-in-residency project at Boston Harbor Islands National Park, I conducted public participation workshops on August 20 and 21 for making handmade paper birds using invasive plant pulps. Many people visiting Peddock’s Island participated and created about 160 handmade paper birds representing endangered bird species on Peddock’s Islands. The birds that people made will be used for the large installation artwork to be installed at the Boston Harbor Islands Welcome Center at Long Wharf in Boston. People participating had the experience of stripping the bark, beating the cooked and washed pulp material, forming sheets in the shape of 6 bird species and decorating each one individually with natural materials such as feathers, wildflowers and leaves found on Peddock’s Island. The workshops were held outdoors at a temporary papermaking studio just outside the chapel. The three invasive plants of Peddock’s Island that we used for the papermaking included honeysuckle vine bark, oriental bittersweet vine bark and common reed leaves. The endangered bird species represented in the handmade paper birds included cormorants, great egrets, night herons, spotted sandpipers, least terns and American oystercatchers.

These photographs show the public papermaking workshops on Peddock’s Island Saturday, August 20,

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These photos show the public papermaking activities on Sunday August 21, at Peddock’s Island.

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Thank you to the many people who participated in these papermakiing sessions and helped with the first artist-in-residency project at Boston Harbor Islands Naitonal Park.

I would like also to give a big thank you to the great volunteers who helped visitors with the papermaking activities. Volunteers on Saturday and Sunday included Bob and Kristina Marcus, Joyce Tat, Christine Tinsley, and Chris and Rebecca Allen and their friend Amy. Thank you also to the artist in residency coordinator Carolyn Lewenberg and all the rangers and park foundation staff who helped with this project. The photos for documenting this artist in residency project are by my husband Timothy S. Allen (http://allentimphotos2.wordpress.com).

Check back here to see the creation of the finished artwork “Birds of Peddock’s Island” as I put together all those handmade paper birds on August 22 – 24. The 100th anniversary celebration for our national parks is on August 25 at Long Wharf, and I will be there 2-4 PM with a tent display to show people what I did during the
residency on Paddock’s Island.