Tacoma Story Hive

On the corner of 7th and N Ainsworth in Tacoma, Washington, USA, traditional and unceded lands of the Puyallup people and other Coast Salish nations on Turtle Island  

This project began as a series of chats between neighbors (Beverly Naidus and Lauren Lindskog Greene) across our shared fence during the Pandemic spring of 2021.  After leaving posters on porches of 50 homes in the neighborhood, we organized ourselves into a brainstorming and collaborative team the summer of 2021, building our story hive in stages, having tons of fun and getting to know each other along the way. The last layer of color on the hive was completed in August 2022. We celebrated with food and a group chalk drawing (a temporary street mandala) in the center of the intersection to slow down traffic and create more positive energy in the neighborhood. 

This project is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Bob Spivey (1948-2023), the co-facilitator of the project, who had years of experience organizing communities to address relevant social issues. Despite developing Stage 4 Melanoma during the project, he kept participating and co-leading activities throughout. The Story Hive was his practicum for the social engaged Buddhist training that he did virtually with the Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2021. You can read more about Bob's life here: https://earthfuneral.com/obituary/bob-spivey-04282023/  Bob is the white-haired man in many of the photos.

Dr. Bob's nutrient-rich soil is now feeding the beautiful plantings surrounding the hive.

Decisions about about our creative process and our material execution of the project were made consensually. 

It was a very harmonious collaboration.