Learn about wild bees through art! Local artist Kelly E. Maier draws attention to the importance, diversity and delicate beauty of wild bees through encaustic (heated beeswax) art.

Kelly Maier grew up in the rural Okanagan and felt a keen curiosity about nature from an early age. Now a Bee Naturalist Encaustic Artist, Citizen Scientist, and Bee Ambassador, Maier is passionate about the plight of pollinators and the loss of their habitats in the face of ecosystem change and threats to biodiversity, and shares many of the goals of public art/science projects like BorderFreeBees. Kelly uses the ancient process of encaustic (heated beeswax) art to draw attention to the importance, diversity and delicate beauty of wild bees.
Creativity, art and education engage the mind and spirit. This art brings wild bees up close and personal to the viewer. The study of wild bees is a “conscientizing” process and the art-making a labour of love. Raising critical awareness and inviting action calls for nothing less than a shift in critical consciousness about what is at stake for wild bee populations, other pollinators and for the planet. She hopes the Wild Bees of BC encaustic art exhibit will encourage concerted conservation efforts from all of us!
To learn more about Kelly’s process and see her other works, visit wildbeeart.wordpress.com.
 
Become a Bee Ambassador!

  • Plant and care for a minimum one-square meter bed of recommended bee-friendly flowers.
  • Choose drought-tolerant, pesticide-free plants (native to the Okanagan if possible) that bloom from spring to fall.
  • Leave bare spots of ground undisturbed for wild bees to dig and to nest in.
  • Put up a Bee Ambassador sign in a spot visible to the public (download from the Border Free Bees website, or make your own) and sign up to be on the map.
  • Commit to telling neighbours and friends what you’re doing, and get one or two more people to jump on board.

 
For more information, please contact:
Okanagan Wine and Orchard Museum at 778.478.0325
info@kelownamuseums.ca