This week’s guest is an artist who is passionate about using art as a communal activity by bringing people from all walks of life to collaborate on public art projects not only to beautify the local community but to inspire community service.

Our guest today is Elizabeth Queen, an artist who resides in Hendersonville, NC and has led several art projects in various media that accomplished that goal. She compares her directing of those projects as “choreography” which is a lovely way to think of getting people to work together to create something beautiful.

She is going to tell us about some of the projects she has coordinated in her little town in North Carolina and the stories that unfolded as the art projects came together. She will focus on two sidewalk murals called “The Bee Line” and “The Life Line.”

Welcome to our very first episode of Do Tell, a storytelling podcast featuring great stories from great storytellers. Our very first guest is the woman who conceived the idea of this podcast. She herself is an accomplished Storyteller the founder of the nonprofit STEAP, Inc. That’s STEAP which stands for storytelling education and arts programs. The mission at STEAP is to connect communities with stories. They are dedicated to creating programs that widen social awareness and cultural appreciation across diverse communities.

Karen-Eve Bayne is an international businesswoman, former General Manager of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, founder of the Do Tell Storyfest and STEAP. "To be of service and make good things happen" is her personal mission. As an impresario and implementer, she wants to think big and do the work while having fun. She has a successful career as a project manager and leader, committed to the richness of diversity and enhancing our communities.

A native of Henderson County, NC, Karen-Eve is a performing artist, fiber artist, storyteller, mentor, and leader with a passion for connecting others to the arts and to their own passions and purposes. She does this by encouraging, coaching, mentoring, leading with compassionate hard work. KE enjoys making art, comfort foods, yoga, and gardening with her partner in Hendersonville NC.

This week’s guest is on a quest to paint 50,000 bees all over the world. What he has learned on the journey is profound and inspiring. Matt Willey is a very talented artist and muralist. He has painted murals all over the U.S. and abroad. But most of his works are not just random subjects. He is on a mission to bring awareness to a very critical part of the ecosystem that has been threatened in the last few decades by a number of environmental factors. He has been painting murals of honeybees and other pollinators. Matt has been beautifying local communities with these fabulous works of art, bringing a sense of wonder and pride to those cities and towns. But his work has much more important goal.

“Bees never forget that they are part of something bigger than themselves,” says Willey. “Their hive is a part of them. What if we embodied this idea? Perhaps we would remember that we are all connected and that separation is an illusion.”

Tune in to hear Matt’s inspiring story—how he transitioned from amateur to professional artist and what he learned as he engaged with the communities of the cities and towns where he painted.