songbird

WELCOME TO THE ARCHIVED SONGBIRD WEBSITE

1998-2002

One of the important pleasures, for me, was meeting Beth Carruthers and Nelson Gray of the Songbird Project in British Columbia. It was very clear to all present that they are doing exemplary work... You are lucky to have these two creative artists, and their colleagues, working on behalf of human-earth relations in Western Canada.
Dr. David Abram, cultural ecologist and author of "The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-than-Human World"

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Arts & Ecology In Practice

SongBird was the first sci-arts collaborative project in Canada focusing on urban communities, habitat and sustainability. Our approach was to link the arts, sciences and communities in innovative ways that bridged age, culture and lifestyle. Because the human/ecosystem relationship is central to our being in the world, and our emotional connection is one that will ultimately change human behaviours, a primary focus for the project was developing and producing celebratory and non-confrontational strategies that capture the imagination and engage the heart and mind.

We chose songbirds, whose populations are in decline world wide, to represent this work. Beyond being indicator species for ecosystem stability, songbirds were a metaphor, literally the canary in the coal mine, and present in the stories of almost every human culture.

SongBird was born as a partnership between artist and cultural ecologist Beth Carruthers, and Nelson Gray,a writer and theatre director interested in developing an opera based on birdsong. Beth soon recruited Dr. Val Schafer, then-Director of the Institute of Urban Ecology at Douglas College to the core collaborative group, which soon also included Western Front New Music Director DB Boyko, and representatives from the Canadian Wildlife Service and the Vancouver Natural History Society. SongBird produced a number of events and initiatives and won local, national and international acclaim for its innovative approach to community engagement and sustainability through multi-disciplinary and multi-sector collaboration.

Until the end of 2000, SongBird was a long–term project co-managed by Savage Media, a performing arts company, and co-directed by Nelson Gray. In 2001, at the end of Gray's and Savage Media's involvement, the new organisation - SongBird – Arts & Ecology in Practice - was officially registered. Founding and Creative Director Beth Carruthers remained as Creative and Executive Director through 2002.

This website holds most of the information on SongBird's initiatives and partnerships over the years the project was active. Please explore and address any enquiries to Beth Carruthers.