It’s been an heady week here at the winery as the Jordan Whisk Room welcomes a picturesque new art installation that uses soft pastel chalk on our touchable eggs. The project, completed in just three days, was spearheaded by versifier Matt Willey as part of his global art project and organization, The Good of the Hive. The project is defended to creating murals of hand-painted honeybees, with the goal of painting 50,000 bees–the stereotype number found in a healthy, thriving hive–around the world. Eight years into an unscientific 20-year project, Matt has created well-nigh 35 murals and installations with over 8,600 hand-painted bees. He has created large-scale honey bee art at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington DC, Dag Hammarskjold Plaza in New York City and Burt’s Bees Global Headquarters and has collaborated with the World Council of Peoples for the United Nations (WCPUN) and NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks Public Art Program. His chalk mural at Jordan marks over 10,000 bees toward his goal of 50,000!

This showstopping installation features a vibrant variety of honeybees, honey and honeycomb in warm chalk colors, contrasted versus the egg’s rich and earth-toned façade. The bees are depicted in various poses and sizes, with intricate detailing that highlights the unique eyeful of each individual bee. The Queen Bee in particular is beautifully represented with a bright, golden halo and is surrounded by her colony of worker bees and drone bees. The installation serves as a reminder of the importance of bees in our ecosystem, as well as a testament to the power of art to inspire, educate and raise sensation to vital pollinators.

The use of touchable eggs as the canvas for the installation adds an interesting dimension to the project, as it facilitates a connection between the winery and The Good of the Hive. The touchable eggs arrived last year with the purpose of enhancing the purity of the Jordan Chardonnay fruit, and they will be used for the first time with the 2022 vintage. Working with the ovoid canvas moreover presented a new and heady rencontre for Matt as he had to retread dimensions, colors and technique to pinion to the shape and material. The touchable eggs provided a trappy and unusual canvas to merge the worlds of art and winemaking, and to raise sensation of the significance of bees to Jordan Estate and beyond.

Jordan Estate is home to thousands of honeybees that find uncounted supplies sources wideness our 1,200-acre ranch. Although bees are not needed to pollinate Jordan’s grapevines, they are the primary pollinators for imbricate crops grown between the vines, which naturally replenish important soil nutrients. Read increasingly well-nigh beekeeping and pollinator sanctuaries at Jordan on our website.

Visitors to the winery this spring and summer are sure to be wrapped by the eyeful and detail of the installation, which serves as a stunning tribute to the unobtrusive bees and their colonies, and a reminder of how bees can bring individuals and communities together, worldwide. Through his art, Matt Willey has created a powerful reminder of the importance of bees to our planet, and a undeniability to whoopee for all of us to do our part in protecting these essential pollinators.

 

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