This was made as part of the Wetlands Trail in Roger WIliams Park Zoo in Rhode Island in spring 2008. The wetlands trail encourages zoo visitors to consider the local ecosystem with the same wonder and interest through which they view animals from far-away ecosystems. This swallow house is a lime-mortar based patch of a hole in the side of a Black Willow tree. I inserted a round ceiling and floor in the hollow of the tree. I wanted to give people something magical to discover, a suggestion that the mundane local ecosystem that runs on both sides of the boundaries of the zoo is full of mystery that invites us to dance.
