How Different Artists Imagine Birds Through Their Art: Submissions so Far

“Birds are not bound by borders. They move between worlds, carrying with them freedom, fragility, resilience, and wonder.”

Birds. A word that feels so small, so ordinary, and yet, the more we sit with it, the more expansive it becomes. Every culture, every memory, every story seems to hold a bird somewhere inside it. They live in our skies and our dreams, in lullabies and in legends, in fleeting moments and in eternal symbols.

As we open submissions for this international exhibition, we are humbled to witness the way artists across the globe are taking this theme into their own hands, their own lives, their own stories. Already, work is arriving from living rooms, kitchen tables, studios, and temporary workspaces from places alive with chaos and from spaces carved out in quiet solitude. And in each piece, we see not only a bird, but a truth. A truth about longing, about memory, about joy, about fragility.

Why This Theme Matters

Birds have always been more than just creatures of air. They are companions on windowsills, messengers in myth, omens of change, symbols of freedom. They remind us that the sky is not unreachable, that movement and stillness can coexist, that fragility and resilience live side by side.

For some, a bird might recall childhood the sound of sparrows at dawn, the lull of pigeons in city squares, the sudden flash of wings against a morning sky. For others, birds carry cultural memory, cranes in folklore, eagles in rituals, doves in prayers. And for many, birds represent the ache of distance: migration, departure, and the long-awaited return.

This theme is not about one single definition. It is about inviting artists to ask themselves: What do birds mean to me? Are they freedom? Are they fragility? Are they guides? Are they companions? Are they simply beauty, a fleeting glimpse that makes us stop, breathe, and notice?

The answers, we already see, are infinite.

What We Are Witnessing

Every submission that arrives feels like another voice joining a chorus. Already, we’ve seen paintings where wings dissolve into skies of memory, photographs that freeze a bird mid-flight, textiles embroidered with ancestral migrations, sculptures that balance delicacy and strength, and digital works that transform birds into metaphors for hope, loss, or love.

Some works bring us into the intimacy of a single moment, a bird perched quietly, a song breaking through silence. Others sweep us into vastness great migrations stretching across continents, wings spanning cultures, birds imagined as messengers between worlds.

Together, these pieces are beginning to form something much larger than an exhibition. They are becoming a living archive one that breathes with the stories of artists who have chosen to share what birds mean to them.

Recent Submissions

The following artists have already shared their visions, carrying the theme into new and unexpected directions:

1. “Chismes de Jardin” Artwork Submitted by Smita Sonthalia @smitasonthaliaart

2. “Mangrove Birds” Artwork Submitted by Paulina Constancia @paulinaconstancia

3. Morning Song Artwork Submitted by Lene Green @leneliigreen

4. Little owl meets Don Quichotte Artwork Submitted by Berit Van den Bussche @bcreativ.art

5. “Portrait with dove” Artwork Submitted by Laura Zelaya @kinetic_automata_laurazelaya

6. “Beyond My Limits” Artwork Submitted by Susanna Zema @susannazema.fineart

7. “Wings of Desire” Artwork Submitted by Karla Marchesi @karlamarchesi

8. “Hyde Park Heron” Artwork Submitted by Arlene Seymour @arlenerobin

9. “Wave Wanderers” Artwork Submitted by Lavina Doluner @lavina_doluner

10. “CTA Birds” Artwork Submitted by Elena Whitwam @ehsuanyiwhitwam

What is unfolding is not just an exhibition. It is a gathering of perspectives, a forming together of stories. Each submission is like a feather, and together, they are becoming wings. Wings that hold memories, that carry longing, that remind us of resilience, that embody hope.

We are more than excited we are humbled to see how expansive this idea has become in the hands of artists. And with every day, every submission, the exhibition becomes more alive.

Tell Us: What Do Birds Mean to You?

There is still time to add your voice. Submissions close on October 9, 2025 at 11:59 PM EST.

This is your chance to share what birds mean to you in color, in form, in story. To contribute to a collective song that stretches across borders, across cultures, across lives.

Birds are not only wings in the sky. They are freedom and fragility. They are guides and companions. They are stories and symbols. And above all, they are reminders of our shared longing to belong to something larger than ourselves.