SCRANTON, PA — It’s about the good of the bees and the good of the hive, and it’s emblazoned on the Scranton Civic Ballet Company wall.

Learn about the message behind Matthew Willey’s “The Good of the Hive” mural at a master class and lecture with the artist on Friday, October 14, and at a mural dedication on Friday, November 4.

Willey will install the mural on the ballet company building at 234 Mifflin Ave.

He is a muralist, and is raising awareness through his art about the importance of pollinators. He’s been painting the bee-themed mural in Scranton since late August, and the piece will be complete at the end of October. The project brings him closer to achieving his personal commitment to hand-paint 50,000 honeybees—the number of bees in a healthy, thriving hive—in murals around the world.

“Matthew’s work is much more than an inspiring mural,” said Rose Randazzo, chairperson of Scranton Tomorrow’s mural arts program. “It’s a movement. Scranton is now connected to a global initiative to save the bees through public mural art.”

As a gift to the community, Willey will present a master class and lecture, “The Good of the Hive,” on Friday, October 14, at 6 p.m., at Lackawanna College, 501 Vine St. The event is free and open to the public. Seating is first-come, first-served.

Lackawanna College is the academic sponsor of this event.

“Matt’s work is inspiring communities around the world to think collectively, in the same way that honeybees do,” said Kara Seitzinger, director of public affairs and advisor liaison to the president/CEO of the Wright Centers for Community Health and Graduate Medical Education. “The health of a honeybee hive is the perfect metaphor for the health of a community. We encourage the community to attend his lecture to hear his fascinating story and insights.”

The completed mural will be unveiled at a dedication ceremony at the Scranton Civic Ballet Company building, 234 Mifflin Ave., on Friday, November 4 at 5:30 p.m.

Willey says his mission is to ignite radical 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.

Six years into an estimated 20-year project, the artist has created 35 murals and installations with over 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 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,” Willey said.

For more information about Matt Willey and his work, visit www.thegoodofthehive.com/.

For more information about the Wright Center, go to TheWrightCenter.org or call 570-230-0019.

Story contributed by the Wright Center for Community Health.