Historic Forest Hills Cemetery

A Place to Stay was created by artists Michael Beatty and Mike Newby from painted steel, wood and copper. The artists said “Our birdhouses rework the architectural motifs of the cemetery and provide shelter for its living, breathing, animated residents. By manipulating mass and volume in the construction of the supporting framework, we aim to integrate a sense of the traditional with a new, deconstructed model. The subtle humor incorporated in these birdhouses is a foil for the sense of the inevitable that surrounds the present day visitor to Forest Hills.” The artists also pay tribute to birds as ancient symbols of both the soul and transition, appropriate metaphors in the context of the cemetery.

This majestic "Place to Stay" is the ultimate in a bird house with a Gothic inspired octagonal house with a two-story dwelling available to lucky birds at Forest Hills Cemetery. Set on Mount Warren, this piece of functional art successfully integrates a "sense of the traditional with a new, deconstructed model. The subtle humor incorporated in these birdhouses is a foil for the sense of the inevitable that surrounds the present day visitor to Forest Hills."