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| Founded | 2000 |
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| Focus | resistance to corporate globalization |
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Area served | World |
| Method | graphical media |
| Website | beehivecollective.org |
TheBeehive Design Collective is avolunteer-drivennon-profitart collective that uses graphical media as educational tools to communicate stories ofresistance tocorporate globalization.[1][2] The purpose of theMachias, Maine-based group is to "cross-pollinate thegrassroots"[3][2] by creating collaborative,anti-copyright images that can be used as educational and organizing tools. The most recognizable of these images are large formatpen and ink posters, which seek to provide a visual alternative todeconstruction of complicated social and political issues ranging fromglobalization,[2][4]free trade,militarism,[4]resource extraction, andbiotechnology.[2]
Their work has been included in curated exhibitions internationally, including at theStation Museum of Contemporary Art andManifesta.[5][6] One of their most well-known works,Mesoamérica Resiste, was a nine-year research project working directly with communities in Central America regarding effects of theMesoamerica Project, and is typical of their community-engaged style of production.[7][8]
The Collective creates graphic campaigns addressing diverse geo- and socio-political issues. The illustrations are informed and developed through extensive research. The work for the poster began in 2004,[9] and by 2010 the group had distributed over 10,000 posters in the Americas.[2] A 2012 campaign resulted from travel toMexico and interviews of a broad spectrum of people. The “Mesoamerica Resiste” poster was used as their aid in this campaign and was unveiled in December 7, 2012 at the Machias Grange Hall. The group adheres to self-imposed rules during their campaign production, including absence of literal human depictions, use of cross-cultural imagery, and avoidance ofcultural appropriation.[10] The group bills its pieces as “portable murals,” using them as educational pieces while they travel around the world to do speaking engagements.[9]
The current trilogy in progress detailsglobalization in the western hemisphere through a series of three graphics.[clarification needed]
The Collective's educational work involves storytelling, international lecture circuits using giant reproductions of their posters as storytelling aids. "Picture lectures" feature a 30-feet high graphic and a 6-foot-tall (1.8 m) fabricflipbook/storybook. Audiences are led through a two-hour interactive, conversational presentation.[11]
One of the Beehive's goals in their graphic distribution is to have 50% of each print run distributed free to communities in the global south, including to groups working on the issues depicted in the prints.[3] The remaining half are distributed internationally for donations. Posters are distributed at a wide range of venues, events, college campuses and academic events.
All of the Beehive Collective's materials are distributed asanti-copyright,[2] and their production is encouraged for non-profit, non-commercial use to assist in publications and productions. The black and white imagery is designed to facilitate ease of reproduction. The Beehive distributes free clip-art digital imagery via their website and graphic CD-ROMs distributed from their webstore.
Since the year 2000, the Collective has been engaged in the restoration of the Machias ValleyGrange Hall in Machias, Maine,[13] built in 1904. The restoration labor was sourced from visiting volunteers. The building was initially used as the Collective's center of its stone mosaics program.
Annually, the Collective throws a no-cost dress-up dance party of immense proportions called the "Blackfly Ball".[14][15] There are ongoing events such as a weekly Open Mic night and annual Halloween celebration.
In 2007, the Machias Valley Grange Hall was placed onto theNational Register of Historic Places.[16]
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