Taking Wings is a film, story-telling and environmental collective, formed by the artist couple Blake Lavia and Tzintzun Aguilar-Izzo. Talking Wings collaborates with environmental storytellers from around the world to nurture ECOCENTRIC and healing tapestries of resistance. Through video, illustrations, animations and audio narrations, we bring the stories of a just and restorative world to life. By advocating for "Rights of Nature", we push forward a paradigm shift that will modify the current environmental legislation and enact cultural change.

Present Projects
Talking Wings is in the process of creating an interactive website, which will function as a repository for local environmental knowledge, and will inspire communities to pass ecocentric laws. The website will host locally crafted ordinances, informational videos, illustrated pages, scientific data about the local waterways and the threats they face, and cultural resources to better understand the history of the North Country, New York/Haudenosaunee Territory. 

Talking Wings is also planning a year long series of events that will use art and conversation to discuss ecocentric law making and the threats facing human and natural communities. By bringing together environmental organizers from around the world, Talking Wings hopes to spark international collaborations and local political action. 

In March of 2022, Talking Wings organized the North Country Rights of Nature Symposium, which brought together community members from across the North Country, New York/ Haudenosaunee Territory, to start the process of creating a BILL OF RIGHTS for the Kaniatarowanénhne / St. Lawrence River Watershed. In the face of the climate crises, the online discussion grappled with the moral implications of protecting the rivers of the "North Country" and lay the groundwork for future legislative action. Currently, North Country communities are considering legally recognizing the rights of waterways. 

In 2020, Talking Wings organized the North Country Art, Land and Environment Summit. During the month long, Summit community members from the St. Lawrence Watershed came together to discuss sustainable and regenerative solutions for the climate crisis. This same year, Talking Wings produced a series of videos in Veracruz, Mexico, where they documented the work and lives of Water and Earth Guardians from the Antigua Watershed.