New bird house display along walking path in Knowlton
Although there are already dozens of bird houses along the walking path, Bolduc said they still have plenty leftover at their respective stores in the area.
Knowlton residents and artists dropped off uniquely designed bird houses at Coldbrook Park last week as part of a community project started by Isabelle Daval and Sylvain Bolduc earlier in the summer.
Bolduc and Daval assembled all of the necessary materials to build the miniature homes. And with a team of volunteers they put the pieces together for people interested in participating in the project. They gave everyone about one month to finish their artwork.
“We bought the raw material, we put primer on it, and we invited people to come pick one. They did their art on it and after that we had to put varnish on it and we had to install it in the park,” said Bolduc.
The first part, which is already installed, is the artistic part, he explained. It took a few days to put everything up. The second part will take a bit more time. They plan to install bigger, more elaborate bird houses throughout the year, in hopes of sustaining a larger bird population.
“It’s a kind of permanent exhibit in the middle of downtown, outside for everybody, and it is going to be on display in two parts,” said Bolduc.
The bird houses line what Bolduc and Daval have dubbed the fairy trail, a walking path for residents and visitors, which follows the Coldbrook stream up the road. According to Bolduc, not a lot of people know about the path, so this will be a way to attract visitors.
Bolduc hopes the colourful houses will bring in more birds. He also commended everyone for their work. Each bird house has its own style and none of them have a similar design, Bolduc continued. The entire project was done at no extra cost for the participants.
While walking along the path, Daval said they simply wanted to give back and bring the community together. They want to help make Knowlton an interesting and unique place to visit in Quebec. They also run lantern project in the winter, which has been going for four years.
Although there are already dozens of bird houses along the walking path, Bolduc said they still have plenty leftover at their respective stores in the area. They plan to put them out slowly throughout the summer. Bolduc wants to hold a bird house painting project every year.
“Our goal is in the long term because we will add new bird houses each year with a new batch of participants and artists, and basically we want to be the most important bird house exhibit in the region, maybe even the country,” said Bolduc.