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Progeny provides diverse communities with an opportunity to engage with one another. A program of education draws parallels between community cohesion and the environment, by focusing on a large interactive sound installation touring throughout the United States and Europe. Artists, investors, educators and beneficiaries metaphorically become part of a hive community. Modeled after the interior of a Langstroth beehive, 10 partitions clad in acoustic panelling are lifted from the ground and supported by custom-built flooring. By walking through the maze like chambers, each person forms part of a complex sonic landscape, which despite the inherent visual barriers heightens participants' awareness that their own presence can be felt elsewhere. Concurrently, participants are acutely aware that they are not alone. As the numbers increase the space becomes alive. A community is born. Following each exhibition the installation is transported to the next destination. The children and adult arts education program combines academic study and practical workshops with performing and visual arts. The wax that binds this project together, making it truly unique and accessible is provided by another thriving community; honeybees. Core Values Building Communities A community is all about connections - connections between individuals and connections between people and the other species with which we share the planet. We aim to promote social and ecological awareness within these communities and to celebrate the relationships that make life meaningful. Caring for the environment A sustainable society utilizes natural resources in such a way that future generations will benefit. By environmental stewardship and positive action, we can all be part of a solution to maintain an ecological balance and live within the ecological and resource limits of our communities and our planet. Inspiring innovation and creativity The arts have a unique position within our global community. They educate, inspire, challenge and enrich. We promote creativity as a method for education, academic achievement, social and emotional development, civic engagement, and equitable opportunity. After all, we're all part of the progeny.. Background Beekeepers engage in a systematic migratory procession carrying up to 200 hives on flatbed trucks in search of seasonal pollen. Inside each Langstroth Hive lives a colony of 20,000-80,000 European honeybees. When the colonies are placed by the beekeeper in the new ecosystem, the bees begin their procession with the unified goal of feeding and caring for the next generation of their colony. How does a community of bees survive this migratory process? How do these colonies adapt to new and temporary ecosystems? How do they function within the limits of a man-made architectural object? Bees live in extraordinarily complex and cohesive societies. They coordinate virtually all of their activities with other individuals to ensure colony survival. Much can be learned and transferred from bee society to human society, including maintaining public health; organizing efficient information, communication, economic and transport systems while maintaining harmony. Each bee has a specific role in constructing a healthy society - as does each human. Should any segment of the societal body suffer, the whole body suffers. Progeny is a human project exploring a microcosm of human community through interaction inside an architectural space similar to the hive. The artists have figuratively become beekeepers. The hive-based installation is man-made. The structure is disassembled, transported on a flatbed truck to another temporary location where it is reassembled. With each exhibition an opportunity is provided for a new community to evolve, learn, adapt and interact.