Blooms, Bees, and Bathrooms
Blooms, Bees, and Bathrooms – Accessible Pollinator Outreach
A bathroom mural in a vault toilet at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge located at their Maintenance headquarters - after Parking Lot 3 and before Hellcat Observation Tower. GPS 42.756941, -70.804364
Working with Park Staff Ella Weber and Kevin Soto we led pollinator outreach programming to fourth grade students in Hampstead NH and Lawrence MA. The classes gave feedback on the mural designs, then also visited the Refuge to engage in hands-on learning including nature scavenger hunts, flower dissection, making seed bombs, and visiting the mural being painted!
The main wall of the mural features a native bumblebee on the left holding a bitten strawberry and pollen grain arched by strawberry leaves and flowers. On the right a human hand in a garden glove holds keystone native plant species including a black oak leaf, aster and Seaside goldenrod with a goldenrod caterpillar on top. Beach plum flowers, leaves and fruit book end the door, with a bee icon to represent their exchange. A Black-capped chickadee is flying up with a caterpillar in their mouth to their bird nest. Native plants are habitat for caterpillars and are a critical food source for 96% of songbirds. Above are silhouettes of birds who visit the refuge, with little brown bats (nature’s mosquito control) in the corner. There is a grocery bag hanging with foods that pollinators provide to us (and that the students drew during our engagement.)
I was so excited to bring the students ideas into this mural design. The stylized bee and caterpillar are thanks to their input, as well as the bites in the food, the leaves and the insect-human exchange of pollinated foods to native plants.
This project focused on student outreach and engagement and is also meant to help reduce vandalism in these toilets. It’s also a literal pit stop for most park visitors, and a chance to engage and teach to a captive audience!