ANIMAL ESTATE regional model homes 1.0: NEW YORK CITY

Whitney Museum of American Art / Madison Avenue & East 75th Street / The 2008 Whitney Biennial / 03.06.08 - 06.01.08 {EXTENDED THROUGH AUGUST 14TH}

WEEKLY PERFORMANCES: GUIDED ESTATE TOURS

PLUS ANIMAL SCORES / ANIMAL DRILLS

In front of the museum, at the entry and in the sculpture court, homes have been created for these New York City animal clients. They lived at this very location (East 75th and Madison Avenue) 400 years ago.

clients...
1.01 Bald Eagle {Haliaeetus leucocephalus} - 10 foot diameter nest
1.02 Barn Owl {Tyto alba} - nest box on a telephone pole
1.03 Wood Duck {Aix sponsa} - nest box over the pond
1.04 Purple Martin {Progne subis} - multiple gourd-homes
1.05 Big Brown Bat {Eptesicus fuscus} - bat house
1.06 Mason Bee {Osmia lignaria} - trap nests
1.07 Opossum {Didelphus virginiana} - rock pile
1.08 Northern Flying Squirrel {Glaucomys sabrinus} - nest box
1.09 Bobcat {Lynx rufus} - a hollow tree trunk
1.10 Eastern Tiger Salamander {Ambystoma tigrinum} - burrow
1.11 Eastern Mud Turtle {Kinosternon subrubrum} - sunning platform
1.12 Beaver {Castor Canadensis} - pond and lodge

the site...

What was the block southeast of Madison Avenue and East 75th Street (where the Whitney Museum currently stands) like before European colonists arrived over 400 years ago?

Hydrology - There was a marsh headwater stream flowing eastward in the southeast corner of the block
Soils – 2/3 of block was underlain by Charlton-Sutton soil, 1/3 by Hollis soil
Ecological communities – 2/3 of the block was oak-tulip forest, 1/3 was oak-hickory forest, and the marsh headwater stream mentioned above traveled through the oak-tulip forest.

resources...
New York Public Library, Urban Neighbors
New York Natural Heritage Program
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and here
Cornell Lab of Ornithology

credits...
graphic design for exhibition & printed material: PS NEW YORK (New York)

project assistant & coordination: Erica Browne (New York)

research & assistance: Stephanie Kern (Los Angeles)

landscape ecology consultants: Eric Sanderson and , Markley Boyer, Mannahatta Project, Wildlife Conservation Society

aquatic technician: Noel Rose, Anchor Aquarium Service

eagles nest assistance: Richard DiBella, Stacy Wakefiled, and Adriana Magana

movement artists: Felicia Ballos, Layla Childs, Alex Escalante, Levi Gonzalez, Paige Gratland, Michael Helland, Jmy Leary, Daniel Linehan, Jennifer Monson, Kayvon Pourazar, Anna Sperber, and Flora Wiegmann.

estate tour guides: Deborah Simon, Erica Browne, Jeremy Feinberg, Elizabeth Johnson, Emily Lacy, Margaret Mittelbach, Michael Crewdson, Damon Rich, Eric Sanderson, K8 Hardy, Jennifer Monson, Emily Scott

photographer of movement score portraits: Nicolas Wagner / model: Tobias Hayduk