It is estimated that 100 million billion birds die each year across North America due to collisions with windows. At Gladstone GrowOp, I hope to raise awareness of the dangerous effects of glass on migratory bird populations in cities by creating bird-friendly artwork on the windows of the Gladstone Café. Because birds’ vision does not allow them to see glass, FLAP (www.flap.org) suggests that the windows have clear spaces no larger than 5 cm (2 inches) apart horizontally and not more than 10 cm (4 inches) apart vertically to create a dense pattern of shapes and vertical lines so that the glass lets in light but projects itself as a solid object—important to deter birds from flying into a window. They are also sensitive to color, so the color is also a good deterrent.

The bird silhouettes repeated throughout the installation play on the hawk silhouettes sold to protect birds from flying through your windows. These single silhouettes are ineffective because they do not create a dense pattern on the windows.

For more information about bird-friendly design, see www.flap.org

Gladstone Grow Op, Gladstone Hotel, Toronto, ON, CA