‘Water-birdy’ challenge: Spot the colorful metal birds roosting downtown

Oct. 29, 2021  |  By Megan Schneider | Community News Service

Falling leaves may make it easier to spot the new works of art in downtown Waterbury. Photo by Gordon Miller

As many birds take off to migrate south for the winter, a unique flock of avian creatures has taken roost in downtown Waterbury recently. 

Blending in by design, multiple metal, colorful, cartoon-like birds are now perched alongside trees around the village. The sculptures are a public art project of Revitalizing Waterbury created by Vergennes artist Tyler Vendituoli. 

They have been installed at various public parking areas as part of the finishing touches to the  Main Street reconstruction project that wrapped up in August. The idea for them has been in the making for a while, too.

Four years ago, Revitalizing Waterbury organized the Railroad Bridge Art Project to solicit and choose an art installation for the railroad bridge that spans Main Street near the gateway to downtown. 

The two finalists for that project were the aluminum train sculpture by Phillip Godenschwager – which won by a popular vote and currently is on the bridge – and the birds. 

“There were a lot of people who really loved Tyler’s birds, so we had it in the back of our mind that we would bring these birds to town at some point,” said Karen Nevin, executive director of Revitalizing Waterbury.

These birds are practically camouflaged on South Main Street. Photo by Gordon Miller

Vendituoli said ever since high school he’s had a love for art and he went to the University of Vermont to study fine arts, focusing on sculpture and metals. He has created many pieces for both private collectors and for public display. His work can be found around Vermont and beyond including a piece titled “Bait Ball” at the ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain on the Burlington Waterfront, the yogi “Natarajasana” along the Winooski Riverfront on the Burlington-Winooski border, and “Gooses” in new park space at South Burlington’s reconstructed Market Street. 

When Vendituoli originally designed the birds for the Waterbury train bridge, he incorporated subtle hints into the railway theme. “I used the simple geometric formed track signals and their bold coloring as a jumping off point, layering various painted panels and rivets to create the forms. I wanted the birds to be simple, understandable, and hopefully memorable,” he said. 

When the Main Street reconstruction began in 2019, $5,000 was included in the budget for a public art installation, Nevin said.

“Revitalizing Waterbury has a design committee and it concerns itself with what our town looks like. We tasked them with thinking about what we could do with the $5,000 and they just said ‘let’s bring the birds to town,’” Nevin said. 

The birds cost around $800 apiece, so the budget covered most of it with Revitalizing Waterbury paying for most of the installation costs and the town’s Public Works Department covering the balance, Nevin said. 

Realizing they had to connect the art installation with the reconstruction project, Nevin said the decision was made to place the birds at public parking lots around the downtown. 

This scarlet and gold creature perches near the pump house at Rusty Parker Memorial Park. Photo by Gordon Miller

“The idea of putting birds at the entrances of public parking is, I think, joyful. It’s surprising. It’s entertaining, and it speaks to the community that you can find joy anywhere even when you’re parking your car,” Nevin said.

The sculptures are mounted on poles placed into the ground with each one situated beside trees to create the image of a bird in its natural habitat. There are eight birds in all, seven currently installed. The last one will most likely be put up in the spring, Nevin said, as the desired place for it was not feasible yet.

Vendituoli said he is excited his art is being used and prominently displayed in Waterbury. “It feels great to have made something for the community and I love their placement. It almost creates a scavenger hunt to find them all, encouraging people to explore downtown,” he said.

In fact, one commenter on Revitalizing Waterbury’s Facebook post featuring the new sculptures dubbed finding them the “Water-birdy challenge.”  

Nevin said she ees the birds as a representation of public art and what that means in a community for both residents and visitors. “Public art is there to interact with you where you can stop, look, consider it, think about it, and smile,” Nevin said. “They are metal, they are whimsical, they have bright colors, and they will make you smile.”

Megan Schneider is a St. Michael’s College senior working with the University of Vermont’s Community News Service.