“Worker Bees” was created in partnership with the New York City Department of Transportation. It spans 180 feet and is located in Downtown Brooklyn at Cadman Plaza, a major traffic crossroads of people going to and from work. One side features mosaic glass tile while the other side is painted with acrylic paint. The mosaic illustrates the process of pollination and the similarities between human workers and worker bees. The mosaic side portrays humans as worker bees by showing the progression of a bee slowly morphing into a human who is carrying a briefcase on his way to work. The painted side of the barrier focuses on natural design and patterns in the environment; as the process of germination unfolds, the painting gets progressively more abstract and displays patterns from nature, such as hexagons, which are found in beehives. Through this project, the students beautified a traffic barrier in Brooklyn while simultaneously learning about pollination, germination, and using different mediums such as glass tile and paint.
