SCRANTON, PA — “The Good of the Hive” artist Matt Willey will speak at Lackawanna College’s theater at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, September 6.

The work raises awareness about the importance of pollinators, and brings the artist closer to his personal commitment of hand-painting 50,000 honeybees—the number of bees in a healthy, thriving hive—in murals around the world.

Willey is painting a mural on the side of the Civic Theater building. The Wright Center for Patient and Community Engagement has brought the artist and his project to the region.

It’s part of Scranton Tomorrow’s Mural Arts program.  The painting of the mural began on August 14 and will continue for a month.

“We are both excited and honored to be the premier sponsor of this unique mural project in Scranton,” said Kara Seitzinger, director of public affairs and advisor liaison to the president and CEO of the Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education. “We hope it will inspire the community to think collectively, in the same way honeybees do. The health of the honeybees is predicated on the health of the hive, not an individual bee.”

Willey’s mission is to ignite curiosity and active engagement around planetary health issues, through art, bees and storytelling. His vision is a world filled with people that see and experience the beauty and connectedness of all things. “The hive I’m creating is a metaphor for us all: No matter your color, nationality, religion, gender, age or economic status. This piece of art is an idealized picture of health to focus on as we work toward solutions,” he said.

Six years into an estimated 20-year project, Willey has created 35 murals and installations with more than 8,600 hand-painted bees. He has reached hundreds of thousands of people and created large-scale works at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington D.C., Dag Hammarskjold Plaza in New York City and Burt’s Bees Global Headquarters in Durham, NC.

The connection between bees and health makes sense, said Seitzinger. “It’s the perfect metaphor for the COVID-19 pandemic: The health of the community is based on the behaviors and health of us all, not just one individual.”

The mural-in-progress can be seen at 234 Mifflin Ave. Seating for the lecture is first-come, first-served. The theater is located at 501 Vine St. Seating for the free event is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Click here to learn more about “The Good of the Hive."

Contributed by the Wright Center for Patient and Community Engagement; click here to learn more about the Wright Center.