Eagle Mountain City and the Eagle Mountain Arts Alliance are excited to announce a community art project that your family can contribute to. Residents are invited to pick up a free bird house kit from City Hall, decorate it, and then return it so that it can be included in a public art installation. Only 150 bird house kits are available, and only one bird house per family. The bird houses are easy to build, fun to decorate, and your family will be listed as contributors to the public art project.
How to Participate
- Go to Eagle Mountain City Hall located at 1650 E Stagecoach Run. Enter at the main south entrance.
- Tell the Receptionist that you are there to pickup a Bird House Kit. The Receptionist will ask for your name and contact info to record that your family has picked up a bird house.
- You will receive a Bird House Kit (including wood and nails), instructions and tips from the manufacturer, and information about the community art project.
- Take the kit home, build it, and decorate it with members of your family.
- You will need: Hammer, Pencil (for labeling if desired), and Paint or other art supplies for decorating the bird house.
- Note: Acrylic paint is recommended.
- Take some pictures, show it off, and then bring it back to City Hall within two weeks. We are hoping to piece together the art installation in the spring.
Once you’ve completed these steps, we will add your bird house to the public art installation and add your family’s name to a contribution plaque or sign that will be included in the installation.
Questions you may have
Why have a community Art Project?
Eagle Mountain City is a rapidly growing community that is growing so fast that it is lacking in some cultural staples such as public art. The Eagle Mountain Arts Alliance and Eagle Mountain City are teaming up to help invigorate the arts in the City, though the City’s role will take a back seat over time.
Why Bird Houses?
Our City already has a great relationship with the environment and the wildlife that share it with us. Bird Houses are a great medium that we can connect with, are inexpensive, and are easy to build and decorate.
How should I decorate my Bird House?
We are not looking for only expert artists to decorate bird houses. Anyone with any skill level can participate. We ask only that the decorations be meaningful to the community and family friendly.
What if I don’t have paint or other decoration supplies?
The Eagle Mountain Arts Alliance will be planning a build & decorate event that you can bring your bird house to. Additionally, see if family, friends, or neighbors can share paint, or you can pick up inexpensive acrylic paint at most major shopping centers.
Won’t birds that we are trying preserve like American Kestrels become confused with all of the additional bird houses?
No. These kits were specifically chosen for their quality construction and the size of the holes for birds. Kestrels and many other local bird species cannot fit in the holes of these bird houses. In fact, these bird houses are not intended to be used as actual homes for birds but only as an art installation. Smaller birds may still choose to call them home if the provided mesh screens are not used and that’s perfectly fine.
What is the purpose of the mesh screens?
The primary purpose is to prevent bees, wasps, or other insects out of the bird houses. It will prevent birds from accessing as well, but that is okay since these bird houses are intended as an art display, not to be regularly used by birds.
What if I want to keep my Bird House?
You can keep your bird house if you would rather not contribute to the public art installation. However, we really hope that you do bring them back so we can add it to the display. One benefit of bringing it back is that we will be doing our best to maintain the bird houses which means your bird house may last longer as part of the community art project.
Where will the Bird Houses go? And what will this Public Art Installation look like?
The bird houses will be collected and mounted onto treated wooden posts of varying heights, about 20-25 bird houses per post and installed in a public park. The City is working out the ideal location for the public art installation, but it will likely be a public park location where the bird houses can be shielded to some degree from our north/south winds, where there is plenty of public access, and where they can be kept safe from things like sporting events.
