Divided Heavens

Celebrate birds, migration, and creative conservation during a special Family Sunday inspired by Divided Heavens, a new site-specific project by artist Iris Häussler created during her residency in the historic Tom Thomson shack.

Through hands-on workshops, live presentations, and guided walks, families will learn about bird behaviour, conservation, and the surprising ways humans and birds share the challenges of migration.

This Family Sunday is presented in partnership with Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP) Canada.

Under the guidance of artist and educator Olivia Wallace, families will design imaginative window decals that help prevent bird collisions with glass—an engaging way to turn art into action for bird safety.

Meet awe-inspiring birds of prey up close and learn about their unique traits and the important role they play in our ecosystem.

Presented by experts from Mountsberg Raptor Centre, part of Halton Region’s Conservation Area, a unique education facility that houses both Ontario native and non-native birds of prey. The centre strives to cultivate respect for birds of prey both in captivity and in the wild, to teach visitors about the biology of these birds, and to educate about human impacts on wildlife and positive actions guests can take in their lives to benefit animals and the environment.

Pre-registration required.

Discover the birds that live and migrate through the McMichael’s natural grounds with Carly Davenport, an environmental researcher and bird conservation advocate. This interactive walk teaches kids to identify local species and learn how to help protect them.

Carly Davenport is a former Director’s Guild of Canada member and worked as an Assistant Art Director on American feature film and television productions. After a career spanning over a decade, she transitioned to science, earning a B.Sc. (Hons) in Biomedical Science from Trent University, followed by a M.Sc. in Medical Science from the University of Toronto. Carly now applies her scientific training and creative background to environmental research and advocacy, with a strong focus on bird conservation. She actively contributes to multiple initiatives through organizations, including Birds Canada, FLAP Canada, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, and Nature Canada’s Bird Friendly Cities program.

Join a guided tour of the McMichael’s stunning grounds and discover the rich biodiversity of the Humber River Valley. Highlights include the Sculpture Garden, Minokamik Garden, and Artists’ Cemetery. The tour ends inside the historic Tom Thomson Shack, where you’ll explore a new installation by artist-in-residence Iris Häussler.

Hosted by artist Iris Haussler, join us for a special presentation by Michael Mesure, cofounder of FLAP Canada, who will take us through an eye-opening talk on the widespread issue of bird collisions with buildings—and the simple, effective actions we can take to reduce them.

FLAP was initiated in Toronto in 1991 as a response to the alarming number of bird collisions with buildings, particularly during migration seasons. Discover the extent of this problem in our complex urban environment and learn about the simple ways that can make our neighbourhoods more friendly and safe to migrating birds.

Michael Mesure, Executive Director and cofounder of Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP) Canada, regularly delivers presentations on the topic of bird-building collisions, bringing attention to the reflective light issue that impacts over 1 billion birds across North America every year.

Michael focuses on solutions to help mitigate the challenges of bird migrations in built environments. He tirelessly advocates for bird protection at various levels of government, as well as consults with industry professionals and NGOs across the globe on developing bird-friendly building standards. His time is spent partnership-building and enabling collaborations to promote bird conservation and contributing content to ornithological-focused papers.

Join acclaimed artist Iris Häussler for an intimate talk introducing her project Divided Heavens, which explores the shared migrations of birds and people. Afterward, small groups will be invited to explore the installation alongside McMichael educators.

Iris Häussler has a long history of exhibiting her installations in offsite and non-traditional museum spaces. Her first site-specific art installation was in the women’s restrooms at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich in 1984. Since then, she has exhibited in basements, trailers, garages, apartments, churches, chapels, hotel-rooms, stores, industrial buildings, monasteries, and historic houses. Häussler is well known for her immersive installations that often revolve around fictitious personae and their artistic legacies.

Her work can be found in major national and international collections including the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; the Städtische Sammlung im Lenbachhaus, Munich and the Goetz Collection, Munich, and in private collections worldwide.