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SAVING THE BEES—Lynn Kimsey (far left), professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, and Pam Dinsmore (center), community affairs director at the Sacramento Bee, watch as art show coordinator Laurelin Gilmore opens a gift of appreciation from the entomology department. Gilmore coordinated an art show that raised $900 for UC Davis honey bee research. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) |
DAVIS--They are artists with a honey of heart—a honey of a heart for the plight of honey bees.
Artists showing their work at the recent “Bees at The Bee” art show in Sacramento donated a total of $900 from gross sales of $1560 to honey bee research at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, University of California, Davis.
“The art work was peered at, pored over, perused, examined, appreciated, loved and admired by hundreds of eyes on Saturday,” said Sacramento artist and art show coordinator Laurelin Gilmore who thought of the bee-themed show as a way to help honey bee research and boost awareness of the declining bee population ravaged by colony collapse disorder (CCD).
“We were applauded and congratulated on every aspect of this little event, and I for one am bursting with pride for having been any part of it.”
The event, sponsored by the Sacramento Bee, drew hundreds of visitors to The Bee’s open courtyard.
“This was a marvelous event, altogether educational and entertaining, greatly benefiting honey bees and our bee research program at UC Davis,” said Lynn Kimsey, professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology.”
“Laurelin did a terrific job planning the event, with the support the Sacramento Bee, to support the bees.”
Gilmore invited artists from within a 12-county area to submit their work. Some 60 artists submitted a variety of work, including acrylic paintings, watercolors, pen and ink drawings, metal and paper sculptures, photographs, fused glass plates, pendants, a fleece blanket, crocheted multimedia, collages, monoprint-woodcut, neckpiece, individually painted CDs, and a scrimshaw engraving on a mammoth ivory.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale went to UC Davis honey bee research. Artists grossed $1560, of which $900 “is going directly to the UC Davis bee research,” Gilmore said.
Gilmore praised the artists for their “willingness and eagerness to participate in making my little idea grow so tall.”
“The plight of the honey bees is filtered through each artist in a different way, and the results run the gamut from funny to beautiful to profound,” she said.
The “Bees at The Bee” also included live music, refreshments, and educational information about bees. Scoopy, The Bee’s mascot, handed out chocolate bees.
Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen, member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty, displayed a bee observation hive and answered questions about bees, including CCD, the mysterious malady in which adult bees abandon the hive, leaving behind the queen bee, brood and food stores. Honey bees pollinate a third of the food we eat, he said.
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| This "CD Bee" is the work of Sacramento artist Matt Evans. |
Mussen also handed out free samples of Honey Lovers, a new line of candy (fruit chews) by Gimbal’s Fine Candies, San Francisco. Gimbal’s is donating 5 percent of the proceeds from the sale of its Honey Lovers for UC Davis research. Other handouts were from Burt’s Bees, Häagen-Dazs and the Partners for Sustainable Pollination.
The Bohart Museum of Entomology displayed “Save the Bees” T-shirts and other gift items. The Sacramento Area Beekeepers Association offered honey and other items. Artists from the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, founded and directed by entomologist-artist Diane Ullman and artist Donna Billick, showed art work that will be permanently installed at the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre bee friendly garden located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis.
Plans are under way for the grand opening on Sept. 11 of the garden, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Bee Biology Road. The garden, a year-around food source for honey bees and other pollinators and an educational experience for visitors, was planted last fall. Featuring a series of interconnected gardens with such names as “Honeycomb Hideout,” “Nectar Nook” and “Pollinator Patch,” it is the design of a Sausalito team: landscape architects Donald Sibbett and Ann F. Baker, interpretative landscape architects Donald Sibbett and Ann F. Baker, interpretative planner Jessica Brainard and exhibit designer Chika Kurotaki.
At the haven, visitors can glean information about the plight of the honey bee, what plants attract pollinators, and what to plant in their own gardens. The haven is a "bee friendly farm" as designated by the Partners for Sustainable Pollination, directed by Kathy Kellison and headquarted in Santa Rosa.
Penny Stockdale of UC Davis is organizing the grand opening of the garden, which will include speakers, apiary and garden tours, children’s activities, and educational information.
See winning design (21-page PDF)
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--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
