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International muralist Matt Willey, founder of The Good of the Hive Initiative, has brought his latest work to Auburn’s Creative District, encompassing art, connection, community, and the city’s historical ties to the honey bee.
Willey started the project with the goal of hand-painting 50,000 honey bees—the average number in a healthy hive—around the world. The artist has painted nearly 12,000 bees across six continents in a little over a decade. The project uses bees as a metaphor to highlight human communities and the importance of cooperation, while drawing attention to the insect’s global role in ecosystems.
“Even for people who don't think in metaphor or think in the way of art, they can see it as a bee to her hive is like me to my community, or my church or my business or my whatever,” Willey said. “They can see that like connection.”
The artist previously painted a mural in Lyons, Nebraska, in 2017, making Auburn his second project in the state. Willey has made stops in major cities like New York City and Beijing but said he enjoys smaller community projects more.
“My favorite ones do tend to be in the smaller communities,” Willey said. “It helps me to just breathe and have a little more time, and everybody here [Auburn] is so sweet.”
Auburn already had a growing honey bee theme before the artist arrived. A bee-themed coffee shop, boutique, and local artwork can be found within the city. Leslie Clark, director of Auburn’s Creative District, said historical ties between the city and the insect were rediscovered nearly six years ago.
“The honey bee was a lost part of Auburn’s historical identity but was rediscovered by the sixth Nemaha County Leadership Class in 2019,” she said. “My project suggestion was art sculptures, and we didn't know what to do for the sculpture.”
The class, which included Clark, chose the honey bee to highlight the state insect. The Honey bees in the Heartland Project placed 27 sculptures of bees around the county. Halfway through the project, the class discovered Auburn’s integral role in establishing the state’s official insect.
Fifty years ago, Calvert Elementary School students taught by Louise Howe successfully campaigned to make the honey bee Nebraska’s state insect, a bill signed into law by Gov. J. James Exon in 1975. After learning that piece of state history, the establishment of the Creative District in 2024 created more opportunities to continue the honey bee theme through public art and community engagement.
Earlier this summer, the Creative District furthered the bee-themed branding by handing out hexagonal canvases resembling honeycombs. Local artists returned their completed pieces to the district, which sold them to raise funds for future district projects in September. Additionally, the district collaborated with local artist Reagan Jordan to create temporary sidewalk murals featuring “Bee Sayings,” including messages like “Bee Kind,” “Bee Positive,” “Bee You,” “Bee Happy,” “Bee Honest,” “Bee Grateful,” and “Bee Respectful.”
Building on the community efforts, Clark searched for more bee-themed inspirations. The director said she stumbled upon Willey’s initiative on Google. Agreeing with Willey’s message, she decided to reach out.
“I believed that having a mural like what he was doing could be a catalyst for our community,” she said. “If we, as a community, want to go far and be thriving, we have to go together. That's what honey bees do, they work together.”
Willey began painting the mural across the street from Auburn’s City Council in late September. The painting is expected to be finished by Nov. 7.