Please do keep in touch! Donna

I’ve just discovered your site, thank you for your observations about nature in our community!

I appreciate your thoughtful remarks about the herons and the artwork. Public art has its own life…sometimes that includes a sticker or two. They just become part of the documentation of the piece…

However,when I found out that others had been “blamed”, for the work, I attended the Silverlake Neighborhood Council Meeting (May 2008) to set the record straight.

I also answered questions posed by the Los Feliz Register about the work.

I figured that these statements would be enough…yet now I find that the installation has still been erroneously linked to non-related issues.

So here is a copy of the statement I posted on the “fake heron” thread. Hope this puts all of this sad nonsense to rest.

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(curbed la “fake heron” thread)

Hello, Everyone,
July 3, 2008…I rarely visit blogs, but after reading the current Los Feliz Ledger, I decided to try to find where the herons have been spotted nesting in May and June as I still haven’t seen them in the eucalyptus grove along West Silverlake Drive. After reading a few Cubed LA boards, I’d like to clarify a few things.

I’m Joan M. Harrison, the local artist who created and hung two “Missing Heron” art pieces along the edges of the nesting site on West Silverlake Drive. As I said at the May SLNC meeting; it was simply an art installation. It was my personal expression of sadness as I stood in front of the empty nesting site in 2008. The text didn’t assign blame to anyone or any event or situation. The text simply stated that the herons were gone from their traditional nesting site.

What I was not permitted to say at the meeting, due to time constraints, was that my intention in creating the artwork was to provide fellow walkers with a contemplative moment as they read the text, looked at the pictures of the birds in nests and then looked up at the empty nests. I’ve learned to appreciate the power and beauty of the present moment, as life does, indeed, constantly change.

Today, as I visit CurbedLA, (other boards) I find that the artwork is still being erroneously politicized and linked to non-related issues. Everyone, please take a deep breath, or two or three. When I made the artwork, I didn’t know that the Friends of the Animals committee existed, nor did I know the committee members. I am not part of any “Conspiracy”, or a member of “Save the Meadow” I am no one’s “cohort” etc.

I’m an independent artist. This is quite an example of how an art piece always has a life of its own. Each viewer brings her/his own p.o.v. to the experience.

But unfortunately, this time a few vocal viewers brought many erronious assumptions and accusations to the mix. Ouch!

I attended the May SLNC meeting when I found out (the day before the meeting) that others were being “blamed” for creating and hanging my artwork. (I signed the pieces along the edge of the photo…) People who had nothing to do with the creation or installation of the artwork had received hateful e-mails and had been ridiculed online. Ouch again!

Another minor point…during the SLNC May meeting, I was merely confused by the “Robert’s Rules of Order” technicalities of the evening. I am staunchly in favor of Herons in the eucalyptus grove. I wish they would nest in my backyard! I am delighted that they are reported to have been seen flying and nesting in May and June. Although I drive along West Silverlake Drive every day, I haven’t yet seen them. Reports have been a bit vague as to exactly where they have been seen nesting. Please share specific info (gently, please!) if they are nesting somewhere else as I would love to take pictures of them this year! Meanwhile, I will continue to look. Blessings to all, Joan

Comment #34, left at 07/04/08

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I purposely kept the text neutral, so that viewers would have their own experiences and thoughts. If anyone had asked me when I made the work, however, I would have told them that the draining of the lake was probably, in my opinion, the tipping factor against the herons’ return. I’ve also noticed more human presence near the Eucalyptus Grove during 2008.
(Crews laying irrigation lines, increased security patrols…often they have, and continue to park at the northern edge of the eucalyptus grove… patrolling, taking breaks? Also, there were many crew members, 2 trucks and equipment by the dock/driveway south of the Eucalyptus grove prior and during the inital draining of the lake.

None of this has anything to do with the meadow or the running path!

Anyway, all is well. Again, thank you for your thoughtful website. Now that I’ve found it, I’ll often return.

Regards, Joan