The Beehive Design Collective
The Beehive Design Collective is a group of radical artists whose mission is “to cross-pollinate the grassroots, by creating collaborative, anti-copyright images that can be used as educational and organizing tools.” They create massive, intricate sketches that they sell as posters, patches, etc. with a goal of social change. They spend years creating these pieces, each tiny detail of the image is symbolic. If they draw a bird, even the choice of species is precise and meaningful, somehow tying back to the theme of the work. Â It is often hard to look at the images and understand all of the deep symbols woven into the art, but they do workshops around the country where they bring their art and walk you through the meaning-making process. In these workshops, pieces of the image are blown up so participants can see the details and further understand everything that is being said. I did a workshop series with them at the Mountain Justice activist training conference in Appalachia and was absolutely blown away by the intelligence of the art. I have nothing but respect and admiration for this group of artists who are able to so eloquently and beautifully convey such important messages to the world. In order to build transformative social movements, we need people like the Collective to inspire and educate activists fighting for a just system
The photo above is their piece entitled “The True Cost of Coal” and contains a narrative about the evolution of coal and fossil fuel use. If you click on the image you can see a larger version to view more of the details. I have a large poster of this image hanging up in my house and it’s always a conversation starter.
Sustainably Yours, Catherine 