<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt">On Wednesday, January 26 at 6:00 PM, members of the art-activist organization The Beehive Collective will discuss their latest graphic campaign, “The True Cost of Coal,” at the Cambridge Arts Council’s CAC Gallery, 344 Broadway, 2nd floor. <br><div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><div><br>Two years in the making, “The True Cost of Coal” is an elaborate narrative illustration that explores the complex story of mountaintop removal coal mining and the broader impact of coal usage in Appalachia and beyond. As the Collective notes, “Appalachian organizers have worked tirelessly for decades to
bring mountaintop removal coal mining to national consciousness and to stop the practice from decimating the environment. The Beehive Collective contributes a unique superpower to these efforts - a visual strategy for depicting
both the big picture of climate change, overconsumption and globalization while simultaneously honoring the small, human-scale stories of loss and survival.”<br><br>Headquartered in Machias, Maine, the Beehive Collective has gained international attention for its collaboratively produced graphics campaigns focused on stories of resistance to forces such as globalization, resource extraction, and biotechnology. Each campaign begins with extensive interviews with affected communities that the Collective then translates into complex drawings, avoiding the use of text and human characters to make their images accessible regardless of literacy and language. The resulting “anti-copyright” images are printed as large-format banners and downloadable flyers, used by the Collective as educational and organizational tools for encouraging dialogue, critical reflection, and strategic action.<br><br><span>In their interactive “picture-lecture” on Wednesday,
January 26, the Bees will lead the audience through the 15-foot graphic while interweaving anecdotes, statistics, and history to prompt a discussion of contemporary struggles over energy and coal. More information on The True Cost of Coal can be found here: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.beehivecollective.org/english/coal.htm">http://www.beehivecollective.org/english/coal.htm</a>.</span><br><br>This event is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Drawing in Public, curated by Liz K. Sheehan, on view at the CAC Gallery through February 18, 2011.<br><span>More information about the exhibition is available at <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.cambridgeartscouncil.org">www.cambridgeartscouncil.org</a> or call the Cambridge Arts Council at 617-349-4380.</span><br>______________________________________________________________________________<br>CAC Gallery hours:<br>M, W: 8:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.; T, TH: 8:30 a.m. -
5:00 p.m.; F: 8:30 a.m. -
Noon<br>CAC Gallery is located in the Cambridge City Hall Annex at 344 Broadway, at the corner of Broadway and Inman Street. Metered parking is available on Inman Street and Broadway.<br>Directions via MBTA: Take the MBTA Red Line to Central Square. At street level proceed west on Massachusetts Avenue (towards Harvard Square) to Inman Street. Turn right and proceed north for four blocks to Broadway. Turn left and walk one block to Inman Street.<br></div>
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