Flyways Public Art Commission

Deirdre Murphy, artist
Katie Bui, design research assistant, Lehigh University architecture student (2026)
Center for the Environment and Society, Washington College, Chestertown, Maryland, 2025

Flyways is a public art commission sponsored by Washington College’s Center for Environment & Society in Chestertown, Maryland. The bird blind bench functions both as a place to sit and as a screen for viewing birds. Scientists from the Foreman Branch Bird Observatory selected two long-distance migratory species—the Caspian Tern and the Least Tern—to be featured in the sculpture, as they travel along the Chester River flyway.

Each bird is precisely laser-cut into the steel, along with their migratory routes and associated constellation maps. These elegant shorebirds traverse both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres annually, flying up to 20,000 miles to reach their breeding grounds. Like sailors of the past, many migratory birds navigate by the stars—reflected in the sculpture’s etched constellations of Polaris and Cassiopeia on the shade roof.

The Flyways sculpture is constructed from weathering steel, an alloy that forms a stable, rust-like patina when exposed to the elements—allowing it to blend harmoniously into the Eastern Shore landscape. The bench is crafted from locally sourced Eastern Cedar.

Birds do not recognize artificial borders; they migrate freely across countries and continents. As one of Earth’s many migratory species, humans, too, are shaped by movement—yet we often build barriers. Migratory birds remind us to soften those boundaries, to embrace one another with openness and shared humanity.