“Birds are our neighbors—As Birds We Heal invites us to move, observe, and protect urban wildlife together.”
As Birds We Heal is an ongoing interdisciplinary project that combines birdwatching, movement, and visual art to ease climate anxiety and inspire deeper care for our environment. Rooted in Brooklyn, the project creates space for communities to connect with local birdlife through outdoor workshops and performances. Participants learn to observe birds, reflect through movement, and experience the natural world as something deeply personal and shared.
How We Work
Christine Cieslak is an Urban avian educator that brings a scientific lens to the project, offering data, species knowledge, and ecological context. My role (Lorena Marin) as an artist emphasizes community building and examining human behavior through embodied experience. We share a common goal of nurturing environmental stewardship and have found that our approaches complement each other.
Together, we bridge the gap between science and art to create something accessible, engaging, and rooted in real-world issues. Our collaboration involves constant dialogue, birdwatching sessions, and joint planning to find the best ways to bring the project to life.
What we’ve done so far
Refined the project’s concept into a focused, unified vision—balancing its many creative and educational possibilities.
Filmed local birdlife and developed a movement vocabulary to shape the performance component.
Held regular meetings to birdwatch, align our goals, and brainstorm practical ways to bring the project to life.
Began building partnerships with community gardens around the Prospect Park area as potential workshop and performance venues.
What’s Happening Now
An excerpt of As Birds We Heal will be performed this July at Spoke the Hub in Park Slope—our first public sharing of the project and an opportunity to see how audiences engage with this interdisciplinary work. The performance will feature original movement alongside video projections and bird photography by Christine Cieslak, which is an integral part of the project’s visual identity.
Throughout the summer, we’ll continue gathering footage, deepening community partnerships, and applying for funding. Our goal is to present the first full-scale workshop and performance series in Fall 2025 (September–October).