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Join the swarm |
- Wanted: Seven inspired & diligent souls to join forces with the Beehive Design Collective
It’s Spring, and our work is in full bloom! Dear Big World, please send us a few more kickass pollinators!
The scope of our collective’s work has been gloriously expanding both globally and locally. After a long hiatus on new membership, the time has now come for us to bring on a big full time Maine-based crew of multi-talented, politically-attuned, self-driven folks… We’re ready!
That’s where you come in. Do any of these roles sound like they’re for you or a superstar you know? If you’re interested, please click here for lots more detailed information. We’re excited to hear from you!
- Distribution Coordinator and Printing Liaison
- Bookkeeping and Finances Manager
- Communications and Networking Coordinator
- Mesoamerica Resiste Campaign launch team: Media/Promotion/Writing
- Building Restoration and Preservation Co-Coordinator
- Social Media, Tech, Web and Graphic Design Wizard
- Grantwriting and Fundraising Co-coordinator
- None of the above, but i want to be involved!
All ages and abilities welcome! Introverts and divergent-thinkers highly encouraged! Internationals, we’ll assist! Digital forms can’t convey your rowdy awesomeness? We agree, surprise us! Pairs of friends, yes please!
To keep all our full-time Bees immersed in creative efforts… each of these roles are a self-directed mix of Organizational and Project work. Now, after 13 years together, our current projects are a dizzying array of heartfelt Global and Local efforts. In 2013, our four major new projects are:
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT US:
We are a non-profit art activist collective, dedicated to making anti-copyright illustrations for use as educational tools. Our mission is to “cross-pollinate the grassroots.” We value collaborative work, creative problem solving, and dismantling colonial mentality. As the bee metaphor dictates, we are endlessly busy in the effort to illuminate the connections between single issues and the “big picture.” Our organism requires long hours, patience and a solid sense of humor, but is consistently surprising, rewarding and so far, mindbogglingly successful!
But to make the kind of difference we want to make in the world, we need to go even further…
for CARTOONS vs. CAPITALISM: Showdown 2013… We need you!
Here’s that link again… for much more information and sayin’ hello
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Mesoamerica Resiste! Project update from the Studio |
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We are so excited to announce that we are in the final weeks of illustration of the Mesoamerica Resiste graphics campaign, the third graphic in our trilogy about globalization in the western hemisphere. It's been a long journey since this project started in 2004!
 During the past months of home stretch for inking this mammoth drawing, a small team of illustrator bees has been hunkered down in Maine around the clock, finalizing the work of many years of metaphor crafting and collaborative image making. Many teams of bees have poured energy into this graphic's research, concept development, storyboarding, and design over the past 8 years – 21 people so far! After we scan the final drawings in December, we'll have a very full couple months of work to do to get ready for the campaign launch.
 Your support will be a crucial part of getting this poster out into the world!
This Spring we'll be launching a Kickstarter campaign to fund the printing of thousands of posters, and we hope you'll help us spread the word.
Look for more updates here over the next few months! The poster going to print is just the beginning... the real work of this graphics campaign is through it living in the world.
We are looking forward to booking storytelling presentations in 2013.
If you have a specific event in mind to invite us to, or a proposal for collaborative tour dates,
please be in touch! |
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From alaska to appalachia:
the struggle for climate justice continues |
September 27, 2012 |
This has been one busy summer of grass-roots organizing! With actions and marches in communities across the country standing up against the Keystone Pipeline, Hydro -fracking, Mountaintop removal and more, the energy from the Summer of Solidarity is only growing as the months roll buy!
We Bees want to keep the momentum up and are about to hit the road for our Fall Tour, continuing to cross-pollinating extraction struggles in Appalachia, the Midwest, and the Southwest. YOU can help by spreading the word this season; together let's make sure the Summer of Solidarity doesn’t end in August!
Fill out a presentation request to book the bees, check out our developing tour schedule, or take a gander at our press kit if you'd like to learn more. |
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Remembering our friend, larry gibson
keeper of the mountains |
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With heavy hearts we honor our hero and inspiration Larry Gibson- a man with a belly full of fire who courageously defended his home in West Virginia from mountain-top removal and stood up against the most powerful coal interests in the country. Like many thousands of people across the country and across the world, Larry changed our lives. The True Cost of Coal could not have been made without him.
Thank you Larry for all you have taught us and know that we will keep your story alive!
Please help honor Larry‘s legacy by making a donation to the Keeper of the Mountains Foundation, where you can also keep his memory alive by sharing stories of Larry with his family. Larry Gibson Presente! |
Beyond Appalachia: The True Cost of Coal in Alaska! |
| Surveying the 20,000 acres of the Wishbone mine in the Matanuska Valley. Everything visible here will be strip mined should the permits hold up in court. The state of Alaska has never once rejected a coal mining permit. |
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| This summer brought a special request for bees to swarm all the way to Alaska and share the cautionary tale of Appalachian coal with folks fighting off three new proposed coal mines in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. Little did we know that Alaska contains 1/8 of the world’s coal, and as Arctic sea ice melts, coal expansion threatens the lives and livelihoods of Alaskans and the salmon on which they depend.
Check out all that we learned here: beehivecollective.blogspot.com! And while you’re there don’t forget to check out our report back from across the ocean when Bees took The True Cost of Coal to Europe! |
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You're invited to The 7th annual blackfly Ball! |
August 18th, 2012 |
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Aug. 18th
@ the Machias Valley Grange & Cultural Center
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featuring music from:
Machias Ukeleles • Swamp Ward Orchestra
Tricky Britches • Orange River Jazz Band
Pariah Beat • Vermont Joy Parade • Live Bait |
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European tour report back:coal across the ocean |
Bees spent 3-weeks in Europe, taking the 'True Cost of Coal' graphic for the first time to Belgium, Siwtzerland, Germany and the Netherlands
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Bees started their trip at the Manifesta Biennial in Genk, Belgium, a green, historic coal mining region where the only hills are grassy slag heaps from the mines. The art show is in a giant abandoned building that used to house administration, equipment and locker/shower facilities for 4200 miners. Although we saw two coal-fired power plants on the horizon, over the last 40 years all the mines in the region have been shutting down. We were told, "It's cheaper to buy coal from China."
read the entire blog update here:
http://beehivecollective.blogspot.com/
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Germany's largest open-pit coal mine
"when they're finished digging, they promise they'll turn it into Germany's biggest lake"
See more photos from tour here |
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The Beehive is in your town, in the gallery, and on your bookshelf! |
We Bees are starting our SPRING 2012 tour! Check our tour schedule to see if we're doing a presentation in your area!
 From growing resistance to hydro-fracking for natural gas, to the derailing of the Keystone XL pipeline project, folks are waking up to the threat posed by dirty, dangerous fossil fuel extraction and working to build alternatives. This spring, we have eager bees ready to swarm all over the Southeast, Northeast, and Midwest, full of stories and graphics to share. We are also doing limited touring in California.
YOU can help us cross-pollinate these struggles and communities by spreading the word this season; together let's build this movement for climate justice!
Fill out a presentation request to book the bees, check out our developing tour schedule, or take a gander at our press kit if you'd like to learn more.
New Books Showcase Beehive Illustrations |
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Resistance scenes from the True Cost of Coal grace the cover of Transforming Places, a new book by Steve Fisher & Barbara Ellen Smith. Steve's previous book, Fighting Back in Appalachia, was a huge influence for us in the making of the coal poster. We’re honored! |
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Bees made custom drawings for Organizing Cools The Planet, a booklet challenging all of us concerned about the ecological crisis to find your frontline. Authors Josh Kahn Russell and Hilary Moore weave together stories, analysis, organizing tools, and provocative questions, to offer a snapshot of the North American Climate Justice movement and provide pathways for readers to participate in it. This booklet is for anyone who wants to build a movement with the resiliency to navigate one of the most rapid transitions in human history. |
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until Mar. 14th at the Massachussetts College of Art and Design
“How did you make that?” It’s a question we often get from folks looking at our banners for the first time. Well, we made a whole gallery show about it! And it’s still up until Mar. 14th at the Arnheim Gallery at MassArts.
We’ve spent countless hours sorting and pinning up sketches, photos, mindmaps, research notes, brainstorms and detritus from the 2.5 year collaboration that produced the True Cost of Coal, as well as recreating our studio drawing table mid-stream. We’ve also charted our public storytelling and touring process. The result should interest artists, activists, students and others exploring models for community collaboration and visual storytelling. If you missed it, check out our photos.
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OUR HEARTS BEAT BACK AS ONE! |
The Beehive CELEBRATES THE 99% in our GLOBAL SOLIDARITY poster! |
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This scene of a women’s blockade pushing back against repressive military and police forces is drawn from our epic graphic-in-process, Mesoamerica Resiste.
In many languages but with one voice, this poster celebrates the courage, creativity, and ferociousness of people’s movements from across the globe in defending the land, lives, and livelihoods of everyday people.
CONTACT US about bulk ordering Beehive posters for education & distribution at an Occupation in your city! |
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We’re Counting Down to the 2011 Blackfly Ball! |
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YOU'RE INVITED! Help Us Tip the Scales...
and Kickstart the Beehive's 10th Anniversary Blackfly Ball! |
Everyone’s buzzing about the Beehive’s 10th Anniversary Blackfly Ball, just 2 days away and bound to be bigger and bolder than ever before!
We still urgently need YOUR HELP to tip the scales on our KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN and guarantee $18,000 of grassroots fundraising support will bring this magical annual event to life!
Please pledge online via KICKSTARTER before 6pm on Saturday, August 20th, and let us send you lovingingly-crafted posters and patches in return!
Locally, you can drop by the Machias Grange, the Whole Life Market, The Fat Cat Deli, the Chamber of Commerce, the Blueberry Festival, or the Woodwind Gallery to make a cash or check donation to the Ball AND the Beehive Collective’s month of local projects, or show your support by chipping in at the door! You can check up on our projects & progress here: goworkerbees.blogspot.com. |
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KICKSTART the BEEHIVE COLLECTIVE’s 10th Anniversary BLACKFLY BALL! |
The Beehive Collective has launched a new KICKSTARTER campaign to celebrate a decade of collaboration with a small but very special community… our hometown of Machias, in Downeast Coastal Maine!
By pledging a donation on KICKSTARTER, you’ll help us throw Machias the most epic all-ages dress-up dance party imaginable… The 6th Annual BLACKFLY BALL… and receive colorful bundles of special discounted 10th Anniversary & Blackfly Ball- themed posters and patches in return!
Watch this sweet little VIDEO to hear the story of the Beehive’s incredible people- powered revival of the Machias Grange & Cultural Center, brought back from the brink of demolition and lovingly restored to its place at the heart of our rural community!
In preparation for the Ball, we’re continuing our all-volunteer, do-it-yourself local restoration efforts by making permanent and essential infrastructural improvements to the Grange and nearby park... including increasing wheelchair accessibility to the building AND restoring the under-utilized dancefloor on the waterfalls in the center of town. We’ve got dozens of volunteers headed our way to donate time & energy to these efforts- all we need now is money for materials & musicians! |
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| Help us make August 20th the most magical night of the year for all our friends and neighbors in Downeast Maine by making a pledge… and allow us to shower you with Beehive goodies in return, all shipped directly to your door! |
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Every Dollar Counts! |
| Every lil’ donation makes a big difference; your pledge of $20, $50, or $100 can help us cover the $18,000 total cost of this effort. And whether or not you’re able to pledge, you can HELP US SPREAD THE WORD by telling your friends, your grandparents, your boss, your siblings, and everyone who’s connected to you on the internet about this kick-startin’ campaign…we need you to help this go viral! Visit our KICKSTARTER page! |
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We’ve Got Special Posters & Patches… Just for our Kickstarter supporters!
For every pledge you make- from $10 and up- you’ll receive special thank you gifts from us… all super good deals only available through KICKSTARTER! Featured rewards packages include the $20 pledge, for which you’ll receive a limited edition ”For the Long Haul” color poster, an oversize print of the 2011 Blackfly Ball Poster, your choice of a satin patch and a new graphics CD with clip art images for you to use! For just $100, additionally receive three satin patches, all six Blackfly Ball posters and every poster the Bees have ever made- that’s 21 super-discounted posters in all, folks!
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| Celebrate our tenth anniversary summer with us! |
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| 6th Annual BLACKFLY BALL |
 click on image for a full-sized version, and visit our WEBSTORE to COLLECT ALL SIX!
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Come celebrate the revival of the historic Machias Valley Grange & Cultural Center at this annual dress-up dance party extravaganza for all ages!
A much-beloved fixture of the MACHIAS WILD BLUEBERRY FESTIVAL, this year's special 10th Anniversary event will feature fantastic musical performers from near and far, on THREE STAGES throughout the Grange & Bad Little Falls Park!
Each year, the Ball has increased in ambition and scope. This time we'll be looking to our friends and fans of this epic event to throw down some support through a new KICKSTARTER fundraising campaign, set to launch July 10th. Check back soon!
A RideBuzz RIDEBOARD is available for folks to share rides they have and need, for coordinating travel to both the Work Party and the Blackfly Ball! also....Camping space will be available for all of our out-of-town guests!
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2011 SUMMER WORK PARTY |
| This year's all-volunteer work party promises to be bigger and bolder than ever before! In addition to our usual mix of helpful, hands-on projects around the Grange and Hive, we'll be preparing delicious collective meals, exploring the beautiful Downeast Maine coast, and sharing what we know through skillshares and workshops on a variety of useful, relevant topics. |
| We'll also have the great privilege of offering our skills and energy to local community groups, farms, and families in Machias and Washington County. So whether you come for a weekend or the full four weeks, your time in Maine is guaranteed to be full of blueberries, good food, long days, swimming excursions, new skills, and friends and allies! LEARN MORE HERE |
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| Join us in support of the 2011 water walk |
(click on the image above for a closer look) |
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| BUZZAH! Kickstarter success and spring tour kick-off! |
YES! THE TRUE COST OF COAL poster is DONE!
Since June, we’ve already distributed over 6,000 copies of the True Cost of Coal, now in its second printing. A THOUSAND THANK YOUS to all our hosts, audiences, and friends who donated for posters and supported and sustained us on the road this fall… your encouragement and wisdom keeps us inspired, grounded, and nourished!
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GOOD NEWS, friends! With your help we raised over $18,000 to fund our 10th Anniversary print-run!
From $5 to $500 dollars, every bit helped! We are extremely grateful for your help- we can now re-stock every poster we've made this past decade! Keep your eyes to your mailboxes- your poster orders will be wrapped and sent with loving care as soon as we get them back from the printer!
If you'd like to learn more about our sucessful kickstarter campaign, please take a look!
We Bees are currently plotting our SPRING tour schedule, and we'd LOVE to collaborate with you to organize a Beehive presentation in your area. We had a record- breaking fall tour last year with over 200 picture-lectures and graphic workshops, and we are buzzing with excitement to keep up the momentum in the coming months!
From wide-spread hydro-fracking for natural gas and the continued coal exploration across the Americas, from the oil spill in the Gulf and Tar Sands development in Canada, the dire fight against fossil fuels has never been more evident on this continent. This spring, we have eager bees and powerful allies ready to swarm all over the Southeast, Northeast, Midwest and Gulf Coast, full of stories and graphics to share.
YOU can help us cross-pollinate these struggles and communities by hosting the Bees this season; together let's build this movement for climate justice!
Fill out a presentation request to book the bees, Check out our current tour schedule, or take a gander at our press kit if you'd like to learn more!
CLICK HERE to learn more about summer volunteer opportunities!
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| the beehive collective's 10th anniversary print run! |
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Your donations support our all-volunteer cross-pollination efforts! |
VISIT OUR WEBSTORE for easy, ethical, provocative Holiday gifts for friends and family. Every donation you make to the Beehive directly supports all-volunteer, grassroots, community-engaged art projects that energize folks to fight back against “bad news’!
Any orders placed on or before December 12th wil ship to you in time for the Holidays! |
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The BEEHIVE COLLECTIVE has launched a new KICKSTARTER campaign to reprint our full body of work- over a dozen graphic posters!
There's a new-fangled way of doing what Bees do best- fundraising poco-a-poco, little bit by little bit! Through Kickstarter we’ve made a sweet little VIDEO explaining what we do, and are offering lots of special treats to share.
Support the Beehive’s 10th Anniversary Print Run through Kickstarter…… and receive a special collection of limited edition, previously out-of-print, and brand new posters, all shipped direct to your doorstep!
Every lil’ donation makes a big difference; your pledge of $25, $50, or $100 can help us cover the $12,000 total cost of this effort. This will be our biggest, and most diverse, print run to date!
And whether or not you pledge, you can HELP US SPREAD THE WORD by telling your friends, your grandparents, your boss, your siblings, and everyone who’s connected to you on the internet about this kick-startin’ campaign…we need you to help this go viral! CLICK HERE to visit our KICKSTARTER page! |
NEW! THE TRUE COST OF COAL poster is DONE!
Since June, we’ve already distributed over 6,000 copies of the True Cost of Coal, now in its second printing. A THOUSAND THANK YOUS to all our hosts, audiences, and friends who donated for posters and supported and sustained us on the road this fall… your encouragement and wisdom keeps us inspired, grounded, and nourished!
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| fall tour kicks off with Appalachia Rising in d.c. and the common ground fair in unity, Maine! |
Our 2010 tour is shaping up! With more and more confirmations, our schedule is filling up everyday! With FOUR major continental tours, we are coverng more ground than ever before! To see if we're landing near your hometown, check out our tour page!
CLICK HERE to see our touring schedule!
We are still booking shows!
Do you want the bees to visit your college, community center, high school, or event this fall? There's stil time!
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The "True Cost of Coal" Graphic is COMPLETED!
Yes, the rumors are true! After two years of research and careful drawing, we finshed! Check it out in our webstore! |
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From September 25-27, activists and community members from Appalachia and supporters from all over the country will be converging on Washington DC at Appalachia Rising!- a mass mobilization to demand an end to all forms of strip mining!The weekend includes two full days of strategizing workshops, learning, featured speaker panels and discussions, cultural events, and entertainment. On Monday September 27, we will march, rally, and support individuals taking part in dignified non-violent civil disobedience against mountaintop removal mining.
Visit The Appalachia Rising Website for more info
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Every ye ar we begin our tour with a visit to the Common Ground Country Fair! If you’ve ever been to the Fair, you know — and if you haven’t been, anyone who has will tell you — it’s an event like no other, that brings together so many people from so many walks of life, all in the spirit of celebrating the rural and agricultural traditions of Maine. We will be there September 24, 25 & 26, 2010 showcasing the newly completed "True Cost of Coal"! See you there!
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| Yes, the rumors are true! |
Now Booking for FALL TOUR 2010!
Now that the drawing is completed, the real work begins of cross-pollinating the country with posters, educational materials, picture lectures and drumming up support for mountain defenders!
YOU can be part of this effort by hosting the bees this fall as part of our NATION WIDE RELEASE TOUR! We’ll be returning the graphic to the people of Appalachia who shared their stories with us, AND getting it into the hands of folks far and wide who haven’t even heard of mountaintop removal yet.
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It’s true! After 2 ½ years of discussions, feedback, eraser marks, sketches and rough drafts, THE TRUE COST OF COAL is DONE! And we can’t wait to share it with you!
It is hard to describe the mix of emotions we ‘lil bees are feeling after this final push. Somewhere between exuberance and exhaustion, all of it steeped in immeasurable gratitude to all the folks who have helped make this graphic possible. To all the powerful people and places in Appalachia who shared their stories and their struggles with us, to all the folks who have hosted shows and offered up their floors or couches, to everyone who has kicked down money to keep us going, to friends and family who have emotionally supported us through this rollercoaster of a project, and to everyone else who has touched or inspired this graphic in some way- thank you. No doubt, YOU all are what made this project possible!
We have opened up online ordering on our Brand new WEBSTORE! Not only can you buy the new poster, but you can also browse through dozens of new Patches (printed on recycled plastic fabric) with beautiful close-up images of our new graphic!
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| the 5th annual blackfly ball |
Come join us on August 21st and dance the night away under the enchanting spell of the Beehive Collective's annual Blackfly Ball! It's magical torchlit bootyshakin' by raging waterfalls, y'all!
During the Machias Wild Blueberry Festival, the Blackfly Ball has become a much anticipated event for both Downeast Maine and folks throughout the Northeast - it never fails to be a night to remember!
This year's musical line-up includes...
RUDE MECHANICAL ORCHESTRA
New York City's 30-odd-piece New York City radical marching band and dance troupe!
DEBO BAND
Boston's Ethiopian Groove Collective!
...And many more on this year's first ever Second Stage! |
If you have already marked the date on your calendar, consider sharing your ride (or lack of one) on this year's RIDE BOARD! Getting to Machias can be difficult, but not when we all help each other out!
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS RIDE BOARD
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 click on image for full-sized version
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NOW AVAILABLE! Blackfly Ball poster and patches in the WEBSTORE! |
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| join us for the 2010 august workparty! |
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Each year, our Work Parties are full of projects, folks from all over, swimming in the lake and river, eating blueberries and giant collective meals, and meeting our friends and allies in Washington County. In past years, we've taken on restoration projects at the Grange (everything from sanding the floors to roofing to interior and exterior painting), gardening at the Clark Perry House (where we live and work), and major sewing projects. Volunteers have helped us out with paint scraping, poster rolling, patch cutting, wood gathering, coordinating events, and even restoring a hundred pairs of antique rollerskates!
Each week will revolve around one of our graphics campaigns including field trips, guest speakers, full-fledged beehive presentations at our community center, and collaborative image making workshops.
We will also be spending time participating physically in manual work shares (working on the grange, working on beehive infrastructure, collective living tasks, working outside in the sunshine, and helping out members of the community), as well as skill-shares, fires, games, and cooking for everyone!
Our work party has a five day rotation each week with weekends off. This means during our time off bees and volunteers will enjoy bicycle rides to the coast, hikes on rocky Maine shores, games, relaxing (perhaps in our wood-fired sauna), and all kinds of adventure!
If you are interested, fill out the WANNA-BEE application and check the box saying that you are interested in our WORK PARTY! You will recieve shortly after the extended packet of information regarding party logistics. |
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| catch the bees in detroit at the amc & the ussf |
Cross-pollinate with the Bees this week in Detroit.
Join us for workshops, gallery showings and outdoor storytelling events!
Allied Media Conference:
Friday, June 18 @ 9am: Let's Draw! Kid's only drawing workshop
Friday, June 18 @ 2pm: Collaborative Mural Making workshop with Detroit Summer
*check out http://alliedmedia.org/ for more info on times and places!
USSF:
Monday, June 21st: Bees will be tabling all day and doing informal storytellings at Detroit River Days at the USSF cultural space. (http://www.detroitriverdays.com/)
Thursday, June 24th @ 1pm: Collaborative Workshop with the Chiapas Support Committee on "Megaprojects and the
Militarization of Mexico" in Cobo Hall D2-09
Friday, June 25th @ 1pm: Graphics for the Commons:
Collaborative Graphic Design for Movement Building at the Wayne County Community College Rm 124
We will also be displaying graphics (including the recently finished True Costs of Coal poster!) as part the USSF's Official Art show at the Hart Plaza Gallery throughout the USSF
look for us tabling all week at the USSF OUTSIDE in the Hart Plaza!
visit: http://www.ussf2010.org/ for more info!
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