About this project
Yay! You're here! We've got an incredible story to tell you...
GOOD NEWS from "BAD LITTLE FALLS"
Maybe you've heard... that for the past TEN YEARS, the wildly-motivated, all-volunteer Beehive Design Collective has created immensely popular, awe-inspiring, collaborative, and meticulously-crafted oversize posters about the urgent issues of our times… all with engaging, incredibly intricate and educational, black & white cartoons of plants and animals!
But what you might not know is that there is a whole other dimension to our work... that in the effort to dedicate ourselves to being useful to both GLOBAL and LOCAL struggles, we've also been on an amazing adventure to respectfully restore, invigorate and support the small rural community where we are based in Eastern Maine... if you're a fan of warm fuzzy feelings... this story is for you!
Hopefully watching the video above will give you a good glimpse of what we're up to!
Friends and neighbors from near and far... we need YOU to Kickstart the 6th annual BLACKFLY BALL!
Held at the historic Machias Valley Grange & Cultural Center at the height of Eastern Maine's Wild Blueberry Festival, the annual Blackfly Ball is a riotous celebration of community and history that attracts hundreds of folks from across the continent to a magical night of booty-shakin’ bliss by the banks of Bad Little Falls park!
With many dozens of volunteers scheduled to lend their labor to our continuing restoration efforts this August, we’re fundraising to make physical improvements of wheelchair accessibility for the Grange, refurbish the beautiful-but-under-utilized dance floor deck surrounded by raging waterfalls at the center of town, and to support the over 90 musicians who's talent make the night unforgettably magical! We need your support to make this Blackfly Ball the best night of the year for all of our friends and neighbors Downeast!
YOU’RE INVITED on August 20th to celebrate this amazing story of restoration and revival with us, AND to receive fabulous gifts of gratitude in each of our pledge packages! We're celebrating by sharing OUR ENTIRE COLLECTION OF 21 BEEHIVE POSTERS, complete with their accompanying storybook narratives, as well as a special LIMITED RUN COLOR POSTER (exclusively for our Kickstarter backers), for pledges of $100, including shipping! Check it out... there's all sorts of great packages offered for different pledge amounts!
We hope you’ll consider supporting our hardworkin' creative efforts... and allow us to shower you with goodies in return! Many thanks from all of us Bees!
Learn more about the Bees at www.beehivecollective.org.
Visit our Webstore at http://www.beehivecollective.org/english/store/posters_MAIN.htm to see ALL of our posters!
FAQ
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We make pictures that are refreshingly sincere, truthful, and accessible to everyone (regardless of language, education, or literacy). We choose quirky, hilarious, and often heartbreaking metaphors drawn from the natural world and the landscape of corporate globalization to illustrate "bad news" topics. We also document under-recognized "good news" stories of communities fighting to defend their lands- and their lives- from colonizing forces. We work in deep collaboration with affected communities, and regularly visit hundreds of audiences per year with engaging picture-lectures and storysharing workshops.
Though we tackle heavy, complicated issues, people constantly say that our heartfelt and compelling imagery helps make "bad news" more digestible, and inspires community dialogue, critical reflection, and strategic action... and well, they're also just damn crazy cool-lookin' posters!
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---The total cost of our 10 BAND LINE-UP for this year is $7,400. All of the musicians are either generously donating their time or giving us a very reduced rate in solidarity with our efforts!
---The total cost of materials for the WATERFALL DANCE STAGE replacement project is $4,200. We are receiving an AT-COST materials donation thanks to our Local Hardware store, Viking Lumber. (Thank you!) All the labor will be donated by our swarms of volunteers!
---The last phase of our elaborate accessibility efforts for the grange is installation of BOTH WHEELCHAIR PLATFORM and STAIR-CHAIR LIFTS... to finish this work this summer we'll need $3,400. Again, all the labor will be donated by our busy skill-sharing bees!
---Printing the Blackfly Ball's posters is $3,000 -
Despite our impressive "pollination" efforts that have worked to scatter many tens of thousands of posters internationally, we're actually just a very small, enthusiastic, do-it-ourselves outfit with less than 5% annual grant funding. We pull off our unlikely feats of cooperation and D.I.Y. production ONLY because of the grassroots donations we receive from folks like yourself! Every poster we print functions as a powerful seed, both as a fundraising AND an organizing tool that keeps our unique "organism" afloat, and constantly evolving. We also give hundreds of presentations per year at educational and community oriented venues. The donations that we receive from these events "globally" are what allows us to do our "local" work based in rural Downeast Maine!
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If you need or wish to make a more direct donation, there are a bunch of options:
-You can visit our Webstore online to make a donation or purchase via Paypal or credit card.
-You can call us at 207-669-4117, email us at pollinators@beehivecollective.org, or mail us at Beehive Collective 1 Elm st. Machias, ME 04654
-You can visit either of the awesome collaborating Local Businesses that are taking donations and dispensing posters and patches for this fundraising campaign!
--------Whole Life Market, 4 Colonial Way, Downtown Machias, Maine, open 6 to 4 Mon-Sat
--------Woodwind Gallery & Blackfly Breeders Association, 104 Dublin st, Machias, Maine. open Mon-Sat -
Yes! You can visit either of the awesome collaborating Local Businesses that are taking donations and dispensing posters and patches for this fundraising campaign!
--------Whole Life Market, 4 Colonial Way, Downtown Machias, Maine, open 6 to 4 Mon-Sat
--------Woodwind Gallery & Blackfly Breeders Association, 104 Dublin st, Machias, Maine. open Mon-Sat
--------Or if you want to talk to us directly, give a call to 207-669-4117 or stop by our offices/housing/studios at 101 Court st. in Machias (next to the post office)
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Yes!, give us a call at 207-669-4117 so that we can arrange for you to have a proper non-profit receipt for your donation!
Have a question? If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.
202
Backers
$18,213
pledged of $18,000 goal
0
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Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on August 20, 2011.
Pledge $10 or more Pledge $10 or more
We've printed up adorable, full color, satin PATCHES of our 10th Anniversary and Blackfly Ball images just to thank you for your support! You can choose which one you'd like from the examples on the left... Also, we've made a NEW version of our Graphics CD, containing hundreds of clip-art illustrations for you to use and enjoy... Both of these will arrive on your doorstep as a colorful thank you package!
Pledge $15 or more Pledge $15 or more
We can't wait to send you the beautiful OVERSIZE print of THIS YEAR'S BLACKFLY BALL POSTER! It's a 17"x26" color poster, printed on high-quality thick matte paper... We'll also send along your choice of a satin patch and graphics cd thank you package as above!
Pledge $20 or more Pledge $20 or more
Here's our whole 10th Anniversary thank you package! We've created a LIMITED EDITION gift for our Kickstarter Backers! "For the Long Haul" is a beautiful, 17"x26" color commemerative poster, printed on high-quality matte paper! You'll also receive the OVERSIZE print of the 2011 BLACKFLY BALL POSTER, your choice of a satin patch and a graphics cd as above!
Pledge $25 or more Pledge $25 or more
You'll receive the 10th Anniversary thank you package (as above) PLUS any black & white BEEHIVE POSTER OF YOUR CHOICE! That's a bundle of three posters, a patch of your choosing and the graphics cd!
Pledge $35 or more Pledge $35 or more
Here's the FULL SET OF BLACKFLY BALL POSTERS! We've just done a reworked, improved version of ALL six of the 11"x17" collection on beautiful matte paper! You'll also receive the complete Anniversary thank you package (as above) and an additional Beehive poster of your choice! (TO SEE ALL THE POSTERS YOU CAN CHOOSE FROM VISIT OUR WEBSTORE AT http://www.beehivecollective.org/english/store/posters_MAIN.htm)
Pledge $50 or more Pledge $50 or more
Not only will you receive the full Anniversary thank you package (as above, at the $20 level), for $50 we'll also send you the FULL SET OF 6 BLACKFLY BALL POSTERS, plus 2 OVERSIZED prints of the 2010 & 2011 editions. Complete your package with your choice of 2 satin patches and 2 other Beehive posters! (TO SEE ALL THE POSTERS YOU CAN CHOOSE FROM VISIT OUR WEBSTORE AT http://www.beehivecollective.org/english/store/posters_MAIN.htm)
Pledge $75 or more Pledge $75 or more
Let us send you the full Anniversary thank you package (as above, at the $20 level), as well as the FULL SET OF 6 BLACKFLY BALL POSTERS, plus 2 OVERSIZED prints of the 2010 & 2011 editions. Complete your package with all 3 satin patches and 3 other Beehive posters of your choice!
Pledge $100 or more Pledge $100 or more
Here it is! Made available by our Kickstarter supporters, the COMPLETE COLLECTION OF BEEHIVE POSTERS! In addition to all the ones listed above, you'll also receive two more color and seven more BIG black and white posters! It's an amazing set... with 21 posters in all, including the special edition Anniversary poster, 3 storybook narratives, all 3 satin patches, and graphics CD as above!
Pledge $200 or more Pledge $200 or more
If you're able to kick in at this level, we'll do a bee backflip by sending you THREE of the COMPLETE collection listed above, and one of our ever popular FABRIC POSTERS... a six foot high miniature banner of our "Plan Colombia" poster!
Pledge $400 or more Pledge $400 or more
Become a fellow pollinator, by grabbing a chunk of posters for your own fundraising and organizing! We'll send you a big ol' stack of 50 of each of your choice of any two of our poster designs for you to distribute, that's 100 POSTERS TOTAL, plus the complete collection like above!
Pledge $500 or more Pledge $500 or more
We'd love to send you your own BIG beautiful Beehive FABRIC MURAL of any of our poster designs... choose any poster, b&w or color and any size up to ten feet and we'll have it custom printed, sewn with grommets and shipped to you... plus the complete collection like above!
Pledge $1,000 or more Pledge $1,000 or more
We'll be headed your way to swarm you with thanks in person! Bring the Bees to your town for any one of our popular live PICTURE-LECTURES... and we'll help you do an extra awesome job of advertising for the event by custom printing a BIG FABRIC MURAL of your choice for you to keep, OR sending you a bulk chunk of 100 posters for you to sell/distribute before and after the event! And of course, we'll make sure you also have the complete collection of our posters as above!
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The Beehive Design Collective is a wildly-motivated, all-volunteer, art-activist collective dedicated to "cross-pollinating the grassroots" by creating collaborative, anti-copyright images for use as educational and organizing tools. A committed group of mostly women, we work anonymously as word-to-image translators of complex global stories, gathered through conversations with affected communities.
