THE BIG REVEAL
On May 20th, in celebration of World Bee Day, Our Hive, the Bee Garden Mural at ASD was finally revealed!
We did so in true ceremonial fashion with a curtained unveiling in the good company of many staff, students, parents, teachers, friends, Board of Trustees members, and members of the Schoolwide Leadership Team. Worker Bees and guests alike came together to celebrate, take selfies, play some games to explore the myriad of tiles on the wall, and enjoyed the afternoon with some delicious courtesy the awesome SOW students (using fresh fruits and vegetables harvested from our Sustainable Garden).
No reveal in this post just yet. You’ll find it at The End .
The Beginning
Before speaking too much to the end of this project, I feel it worthwhile to go back to the beginning for context.
While the idea for this community project was formally proposed a little more than a year ago, really the idea started when I was made aware of the amazing Bee Garden on the ASD campus, and the absolute force who manages it, Sandy Carden (K-12 Edible Education Coordinator, and my main collabarator on this mural).
I joined the American School of Dubai in 2022, and one of the things that really surprised about our campus was, our bees. That’s right, our bees. ASD has over five thriving hives in its Bee Garden. Do you know of any schools that have their own apiaries? I certainly hadn’t, and I just thought this was the coolest thing.
I still do.
I first met Sandy in the staff room some time in September 2022 when she identified me as the person taking over the Stagecraft class. She was keen to introduce herself, and talk through all of the creative projects she had done in the past with my predecessors, and other members of the D&I team.
With the Stagecraft course, once the musical ended, historically the class opened itself up to more community focused and large scale projects. And, as a passionate stronghold of our K-12 community, Sandy often worked closely with that class, and teacher.
She wowed me with ideas of projects past, present, and future, And, all I could say in the moment was that these all sound brilliant, that I was keen on community focused projects and opportunities for collaboration, and that we should revisit it later in the year.
Then I backed out of the room à la Homer Simpson and the hedge.
But, jokes aside, I actually meant it.
I love community focused art, and feel very privileged as an artist and art educator to have this seeming “access” to community. that others do not. Art brings people together in ways that other subjects just cannot.
Once a bit more grounded after Chicago wrapped, I wanted to do something for this space (the Bee Garden), for this community, and I wanted to collaborate on this project with Sandy specifically, who is a true cornerstone of community in the school.
She’s been accurately described by many students as “very famous”, and “kind of a big deal".
Me getting a little taste of that fame with a little interview spotlight on the ASD News, May 20th 2024.
So what were the aims here? Something big, something eye catching, and something with bees.
I began sketching out some designs with a few key priorities laid out:
Community & Campus
Create an opportunity for a community art project/installation with opportunities from participation from parents, students of all ages, non-teaching staff, teachers, administrators, etc…
Bring visibility and (literal) attention to our Bee Garden & apiary space on campus
Design
Design a piece of artwork which reads as a singular image from a distance/at large scale, but up close reveals detailed and varied tiles of their own composition, subject, and stylel; individual tiles as diverse and dynamic as our school community
Relevant imagery related to bees, and native plants here in the UAE
Some sketches from the earlier stages of planning.
There was a lot of discussion amongst a lot of people, much planning, budgeting, and a good amount of Type A organization that went into the proposal. Then, to our pleasant surprise, it was approved without reservation. The timeline, the location, the concept- all were a yes, yes, and yes. The project was a go for the next academic year.
A few tiles from the middle.
On weekends, afternoons, and during breaks, as tiles would dry I would fire them glaze them, catalogue them, and roll out new ones for whatever session or section came next.
The Middle
I will not speak too much to what happened “in-between” , because really, that involved far more people than just myself. The time in between (October through April) was really focused on the physical creation of 120+ tiles, and that was the result of the many hands of our many community members! Sandy and myself facilitated a number of workshops with different aspects of our community in those months, I led different projects within the High School D&I classes, and art teachers within the elementary and middle school facilitated their own sessions with their students. (Thank you Morgan, Anna, and Paul).
You can read a bit more about the sessions in my posts from November and April, respectively.
What I will speak to though, is the “near end"- not quite the middle, not quite the end, but possibly the most important part for the full realization of this project- the installation. This truly could not have been possible without the support of Maria Joseph, Fernandez, Mohamed, Harpreet, Bhola and the rest of the facilities team who worked tirelessly for the two weeks leading up to the reveal to get this mural mounted on the wall. It was no easy task, and our timeline was tight- with the final sections of grouting going up Sunday the 19th! They made it happen though, and I am endlessly grateful.
The End
So this brings us to, the end. The big reveal.
Our internally set deadline was Monday, May 20th- in celebration of World Bee Day. What a better way to honor pollinators around the world, and Our Hive here at ASD than with a grand unveiling?
The ASD communications team supported us in curating this video featuring clips from the various community tile workshops, honey raffles, hive inspections, and the grand reveal itself!
Check it out to see the curtain drop! at 01:36.
For the day of I created a small “bingo scavenger-hunt” game for kids and adults to get up close, and explore the many details that can be found on the tiles. Each of these boxes represents a small hand-made element that can be found on a tile of the corresponding color. Some are easier to find than others! For some there are multiples to be found, and for others, just one!
Worker Bees
Below are just a few of the many members of our community who created tiles for this project, and came out Monday to celebrate the unveiling.
A sentimental end. The last and final tile piece made and mounted for this mural is a send off to our graduating seniors of 2024.
As a reminder that they will always be part of our community, the name of each senior was etched onto this leaf.
The Numbers
Just a breakdown of a few numbers from this project for scale and scope
354 days (from the time the proposal was submitted 1st June, 2023, to the project completion 20th May, 2024)
186 hand-cut tiles
180kg of clay (wet)
30+ kiln firings
2 semesters of teacher-lead tile making (elementary, middle, & high school)
7 workshops run by myself and Sandy (for parents, teacher, kids, staff, etc…)
1 quarter-long staff tile-building workshop
250+ community participants (early learning, elementary, middle, & high school students, staff, faculty, parents, schoolwided admin)
15 days of installation
2 hours of celebration
This plaque is mounted on the fence to the left of the mural, and at the entry to the our (actual) hives. I want to emphasize the ending statement here:
“Much like the honeybees themselves, everyone in “Our Hive” had as specific part to play. This would have no been possible without the support and collaboration of the Elementary School and Middle School Art teachers, Facilities Team, Schoolwide Leadership Team, faculty, staff, students across all divisions, parents, and all community members who contributed their time and creativity to this project.”
On the day of the reveal Sandy was very sweet to post this story, and I reposted with a slight edit (adding in the black-background text).
It is really important for me to recognize that this was a true community effort. While the vision was mine, the idea would have just ended there- as a vision, and nothing more.
This was always conceptualized as a community-based project, and without the community action and support it could not have happened.
