Artist Matt Willey will offer a deeper dive into his artwork and process on Friday for those buzzing about Scranton’s latest mural.
“There's the story of this project that began way back in 2008 ... and what's unfolded since then," he said.
Willey’s master class and lecture on his “For the Good of the Hive” project begins at 6 p.m. in the Lackawanna College Theater on Vine Street in Scranton. Admission is free and seating is first come, first serve.
On Tuesday, Oct. 11, Willey, a Narrowsburg, New York, resident, was getting started on another day of painting his latest bee-themed mural on the back of the Civic Ballet Company building on Mifflin Avenue in Scranton.
Willey became fascinated with honeybees after one landed on the floor of his New York City studio. He's been on a mission ever since to hand paint 50,000 bees. Willey’s bee murals are painted all over the world.
In Scranton, there’s almost 20 painted bees buzzing around the mural alongside a sketched-out frog and ladybug who were both lacking color in early October. A few of the bees search for pollen in flowers. A black, yellow and white caterpillar crawls up the side of the building.
The dance school and its students inspired the mural to be more playful than his other artwork, Willey said.
“I really believe in that local element. So when I do a mural on site ... I always try and bring in some aspect of place," he said. "This is on the back of a ballet school. Dance is a huge part of communication in the honeybee hive.”
With his project and his talk on Friday, Willey hopes to connect people like bees are connected to their hive and the health of their community.
“The whole idea is this bee inspired me to change," he said. "What's your thing that actually you can dive into to, to begin to change yourself in a positive way? It's really about that.”
The Wright Center for Community Health and Lackawanna College are both sponsors of the public art commission from the Scranton Tomorrow Mural Arts Program.
The mural is scheduled to be unveiled and dedicated during next month's First Friday on Nov. 4 at 5:30 p.m.
