SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Not all artist canvases are the same. In fact, some could even be on the side of a building. That’s what’s happening in Scranton for a project creating quite a buzz.
Some may swat at bees, but not Matt Willey. He embraces them, so much so that this muralist of 28 years is on a mission.
“I’m hand painting 50,000 honeybees in murals around the world,” said muralist, Matt Willey.
Willey’s 36 bee mural has brought him to downtown Scranton, specifically the back wall of the Civic Ballet Company Building, which inspired him.
“I thought how cool to put like just a tutu on a giant bumble bee, why not. I usually paint them very naturally,” Willey explained.
Willey started this particular bee mural on September 13. With each passing day, the previously blank brick wall takes on a new life featuring the black and yellow insect.
“I think it’s beautiful. I love it. I’d like to see it done.” Sheila Robbins, of Elk Lake, commented.
Eyewitness News Reporter, Mark Hiller asked, “What do you love about it?”
“Well, those bees look like they’re coming right out at you,” Robbins replied.
Willey’s first bee mural happened in 2015, but believe it or not, the inspiration began in 2008. That’s when he spotted a honeybee walking really slowly on the floor of his New York City studio, and got down on the floor for a closer look.
“And I noticed how beautiful they are. I was like this does not look like a bug to me. This looks more like a puppy and I had sort of an emotional connection to her,” Willey added.
He named his bee mural project ‘Good of the Hive’ because a sickly bee will leave a healthy, thriving hive for the good of the other bees.
The Wright Center for Community Health is the premier sponsor of the project.
“This is really just so symbiotic of healthcare and COVID and connectivity of this community,” said Kara Seitzinger, Director of Public Affairs at The Wright Center for Community Health.
“So the idea of what I’m doing is painting slowly toward health, rather than focusing on the doom and the gloom,” Willey said.
Something Willey considers really buzzworthy. Willey’s latest work is part of Scranton’s ‘Mural Arts Project.’
He plans to complete the mural by early November.