Hi everyone, thanks so much to everyone who have taken the time to add comments to the blog fin relation to our project. And apologies for the silence - I have just got back from a long trip to Canada and the States. It has been really interesting reading everyone's views on our project and what you have said has definitely effected how we will move the project forward. It's difficult to get across what we want to do in such a short space, but the upshot is we want to increase honeybee populations by inviting artists to set up hives, but also by creating apiaries (group hives, managed communally) that are located in or near to art spaces, like venues and artists studios. We want it to be artists that take the lead on this environmental issue because historially it is the artist who has propelled society forward, pointing out the error of our ways and offering solutions. However we agree that  this project has the potential to attract many other people - to get involved and set up hives. So we see this as artist led, but open to everyone. We also hope that artists will be able to do residencies in the apiaries and in schools, hospitals, prisons or anywhere else interested in working with us, to raise awareness of how people can get involved.
I was sad to see a couple of comments relating to nepotism. Simon Woolham does indeed have a studio at Wysing. But he is not involved in the management of Wysing, was not involved in develping the idea and had no idea that I had submitted a proposal. At the end of the day, I'm sure everyone on the panel will know - by reputation, or personally - one or more of the artists on the shortlist. Surely the panel is large enough to deal with that.
Ok, signing off now to do a bit more work on our project proposal. Thanks again, Donna