Cherish-A-Bee
An Ambitious Hive Encouraging
Sustainability
Artist Statement
A Movement Born From Empathy
From raging wildfires to rising sea levels, the COVID-19 pandemic year of 2020 highlights a climate of concern for environmental preservation. The following year, the Bee Informed Partnership recorded the second-highest U.S. honeybee colony turnover rate since the survey's inception in 2006.
To help alleviate the anxiety of nature enthusiasts witnessing these effects, I set out to inform the public about the significance of World Bee Day and how to engage remotely. In response, the Cherish-A-Bee initiative was founded: stating that honeybees are worth protecting, contribute to human needs, and we can be the hero of this story.
The first pocket guide volume and theme for my art collection, Bees and The Snowball Effect, is a metaphor for the negative chain of events that ensue when a small problem is left unattended, later amplifying the situation. Once a honeybee population begins to plummet, the agricultural, economic, and health industries will face structural decline.
If our honeybee population falls into a steep decline, we will not be able to meet time-sensitive demands from overseas, retail stores across the U.S., or raise enough crops for the next harvest season. I gained inspiration from the co-founder and president of The Center of Cultural Power, Favianna Rodriguez, on mobilizing participants.
Maintaining a webpage helps me manage contacts and distribute infographics. Furthermore, she encourages the use of artistic activism to amplify the voices of marginalized communities. By organizing an opportunity for my audience to share their experiences verbally and visually, together, we can be SWARM strong!