Feb. 14, 2025 -- The Arts Engage! Task Force, a collaborative initiative of the Lackawanna County Department of Arts and Culture, several other county departments, and civic and nonprofit organizations, will launch the Shelter for All project this weekend. It is timed in conjunction with the annual Great Backyard Bird Count conducted by the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, the National Audubon Society and Birds Canada.

Shelter for All is a countywide project that brings together themes of environmental stewardship and art, while exploring what “home” means to people.

The mission of the ARTS Engage! Task Force is to improve the quality of life for Lackawanna County residents through access to and participation in artistic, creative and cultural experiences. Shelter for All invites individuals, organizations, corporations, businesses, and schools to paint 4-inch wooden craft bird houses that will be part of an installation at the Everhart Museum of Natural History, Science and Art during the weekend of Sept. 26.

The bird houses will be provided for free upon request to anyone who registers for the project. The form is available here and on the Department of Arts and Culture page of the county website, Lackawannacounty.org. It also is available by request by email at [email protected]; or by phone at 570-496-1724. The bird houses will be available for pick-up beginning Monday, March 3, at the Electric City Trolley Museum, 300 Cliff St., Scranton, on the grounds of Steamtown National Historic Site.

Shelter for All kicks off today, the beginning of the Great Backyard Bird Count, which invites people to spend time in their favorite places watching and counting as many birds as they can find and reporting their observations. Information on the count is available at BirdCount.org. Count results may be reported on that site, at eBird.org, or on the Merlin Bird ID app.

The Great Backyard Bird Count began in 1998 as the first online participatory-science project, also referred to as community science or citizen science. It collects data on wild birds, and reports results in near real time. In 2013, it became a global project. Now, it is the world’s largest biodiversity-related participatory-science project. Data that people report help scientists better understand global bird populations prior to annual spring migrations.

Other Shelter for All projects in February include free Love Birds caricatures by artist Skylar "Tall Witch" on Saturday, Feb. 22,from 2 to 4 p.m., as part of the Valentine’s Installation at the Garden of Cedar, 715 Cedar Ave., Scranton.

The Lackawanna County Library System will offer several programs related to the Shelter for All Project, including the winter reading program “Birds of a Feather Read Together.” Information on those is available on the libraries website, lclshome.org.

If you have questions, contact [email protected] or 570.496.1724.