St. James Parish- Scout Bee
A unique collaboration in Vacherie, Louisiana
Painting a scout bee in St. James Parish, Louisiana.
Why did a scout bee land here?
In April 2022, along with International artists Pieter DePoortere (Belgium) and Yenting Tseng (Taiwan), I was invited by Camille Duran to create a story around what to do in the face of material overcapacity. Camille founded Magnify - an international collective of creators who invite audiences, community leaders and other influencers on a journey towards specific outcomes. I had known him and admired his work for a few years and so when he asked me what the bees might think about supply and demand, it was easy to join in the project. It seemed there was a lot of potential with the narrative and we are definitely in a predicament with plastic and petrochemicals lately, so I jumped on board to see how the bees might be of service.
But why here in St. James?
(From the Magnify website)
In a beehive, the supply and demand of pollen, wax or honey work in perfect symbiosis. There is just the right amount of workers for the task, and if an imbalance is discovered, all bees work together to re-establish equilibrium.
Humans, on the other hand, have become experts in producing too much of what we don’t need. Think about plastic packaging, for instance.
In St James Parish, close to New Orleans in Louisiana, USA, like in many other petrochemical hubs around the world, new plastic production facilities continue to be permitted based on market speculation.
As our businesses & lifestyles become smarter, do we really need to produce more plastic packaging and fossil-based materials?
Can we really recycle our way out of the plastic pollution crisis?
What would the hive do?
Click play to watch the video below!
Video shot and edited by John DuPre
“The mural is located at 110 Karl Stein Rd, Vacherie, Louisiana, on a small building that sits about 100 yards from the edge of the Mississippi River. The area is known as St. James Parish and often referred to as “Cancer Alley” because they have some of the highest cancer rates in the United States.
Driving toward the location, historic plantation sites set a profound tone that gives way to massive industrial petrochemical plants and tankers that come into view from the bridge into Vacherie. It is a bit like driving onto the set of a sci-fi movie. But as I began painting, I met people setting up for a bar-b-que in a park nearby - just people out for some social time after church. This is not a sci-fi movie, this is home.
This mural is about the possibility that exists through curiosity and connection. My work is never meant to judge or protest or label something as a victim. My work is an echo of an experience I had with a bee that changed the paradigm of how I see the world around me. Innocent curiosity led to an experience of connection that revealed a problem. As soon as I viewed the problem as mine as well as the bees, it was no longer something ‘over there’ to ‘fix,’ but rather it became something to change in me.”
RISE St. James
One of the biggest reasons this project appealed to me was that it is in support of RISE St. James, a grassroots organization that is fighting for environmental justice as it works to defeat the proliferation of petrochemical industries in St. James Parish. The area has come to be known as ‘Cancer Alley” because of the extremely high cancer rates. We must always make the connection between local and global when solving environmental issues. To learn more and support them in their mission CLICK HERE.
Phase One
This mural is phase one of a larger mural I am coming back to paint in December of 2022. Although it is a small mural, I think the simplicity holds the essence of what The Good of the Hive is all about… Healing begins with not feeling alone.
