Oh Robin!
Nina Cooke John
Wood, steel, fabric
24 in. × 13 in. × 6 in.
Ginkgo Allée
Artist Nina Cooke John’s birdhouse is an abstracted interpretation of the robin’s act of nest weaving. For Cooke John, the scrappiness and resourcefulness of robins is often unappreciated. “Robins have become invisible to us,” Cooke John explains, “like the grocery store cashier, Amazon delivery worker, bus driver, and other workers who are critical to the running of our city but have faded into the background of our lives.”
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Nina Cooke John (b. 1972, Jamaica) is a 2022 United States Artists fellow. Recently selected to design the Harriet Tubman monument in Newark, the multidisciplinary Studio Cooke John values placemaking as a way to transform relationships between people and the built environment. The studio was awarded a 2021 AIA Merit Award for the installation “Point of Action.” Cooke John earned her Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University and a masters in architecture from Columbia University.
Artist website: cookejohn.com
Instagram: @studiocookejohn @ninacookejohn
Listen
For the Robin on My Porch
Written by Andrea Potos. Read by Bette Midler
This recording from The Birdsong Project was selected to complement this birdhouse.
Birdhouse Location
For the Birds Presenting Sponsor
