Art Connects

The Symbolic Migration project inspires people from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico to reach across international political borders to protect pollinators, including monarchs, bees, and birds. Below is an excerpt from Estela Romero's weekly blogs about Symbolic Migration. This blog post shows the power of art to connect communities.

Last fall, artist Matt Willey, decorated his own paper Ambassador Monarch. Willey founded the global art project, The Good of the Hive, and creates art to “ignite radical curiosity for planetary health issues.” He believes in the power of art to remind us of our connection to bees, monarchs and the habitats these pollinators depend on.

Willey’s Ambassador Monarch was shared with professors and undergraduate students attending Universidad para el Bienestar Benito Juárez García in Aporo, Michoacán.

"We are so lucky and honored to be the recipient of this special message and art piece [Matt Willey] artistic mission is exactly the mission of our University! He is our guest of honor! We send our deep appreciation and gratitude for what he is doing for the world with his artwork, including now our Symbol, the Monarch butterfly!" –– M.C. Magdalena Bautista Paque, Academic Coordinator of the Universidad para el Bienestar Benito Juárez García

"I am so honored to have the opportunity to participate in the Symbolic Migration project. The Symbolic Migration and The Good of the Hive have something very important in common. Along with caring deeply about the future of our pollinator pals, our organizations understand the power of a symbol to create and inspire change. Not all people are going to care about a bee or a butterfly, but we can all get behind the idea of the Monarch’s epic migratory journey or the connectedness of a honeybee hive. These things remind us of the lives WE want to live… and it is our job to make sure we protect these precious jewels of the insect world, so they remain more than just symbols in the decades to come." –– Matt Willey

See Matt's murals and other works: Murals — The Good of the Hive

Register Now

Feeling inspired? Join the Symbolic Migration project. The cost to participate is a $15 Passenger Ticket per classroom. This $15 fee will cover printing and shipping costs for the Classroom Ambassador Monarchs, and most importantly, conservation education for students both here in the United States and Canada, as well as participating schools in Mexico. The deadline to purchase your Passenger Ticket and to submit your Classroom Ambassador Monarch and life-sized butterflies is October 8, 2021. 

See the Symbolic Migration Leader Packet for complete details.