Pioneer Valley Bee Weeks: April – July, 2014
In spring and summer 2014, Piti Theatre will launch a new initiative based on the successful touring of our “To Bee or Not to Bee“ performance over the last two years. “Bee Weeks“ use the arts to leverage community and school based activities that move towns toward sustainability and create new partnerships between environmental stewards. Bee Weeks are also a launching pad for communities to become “Bee Friendly Towns“ which are are a developing set of benchmarks that measure how hospitable any given community is (and can become) towards its’ smallest, and busiest, employees.
In 2013, the first “bee week” was hosted by Mahoosuc Arts Council in Bethel, ME. We have four more planned for spring and summer 2014 in Western MA communities (see schedule below).
Bee Week Schedule
#1 April 19 – 27: Amherst
#2 May 10 – 18: Hilltowns
#3 June 7 – June 15: Greenfield (+ Hands-on intro to beekeeping 6/28 at Just Roots).
#4 July 7 – 13: Springfield
Current Collaborators
Amherst: Amherst Sustainability Festival, Hitchcock Center for the Environment, UMASS. Hilltowns: Sanderson Academy, Greater Shelburne Falls Area Business Association, The Benson Place. Greenfield: Greening Greenfield, Greenfield Public Library, 2nd Congregational Church, Just Roots. Springfield: Springfield Museums, Springfield Libraries, Gardening the Community. General: Tom Sullivan (Pollinators Welcome)
Generous “seed” funding has been received from:
New England Grassroots Environment Fund
Mass Cultural Council STARS program
Heath, Springfield, and Amherst Cultural Councils*
Learn more and bring a bee week to your town!
*This program is supported in part by a grant from the Heath, Springfield and Amherst Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.