Restaurant and Bee Advocates Team Up for First Friday Art Walk
The Beauty of the Bee Photography Exhibit, live music and bee-kissed treats are featured at Noisette Pastry Kitchen
During the April 4th Friday Art Walk in Eugene, local pastry destination, Noisette, and environmental health organization Beyond Toxics are teaming up to get people involved in bees through art, music, honey and pastries. Noisette’s owner, Tobi Sovak will be creating delicacies made from honey. Noisette is hosting the photography exhibit, Beauty of the Bee, curated by environmental health advocacy group Beyond Toxics. More tasty treats will be provided by Red Wagon Creamery, who has conjured up a new ice cream flavor featuring honey and honeycomb candy. All of this fun will be wrapped in the melodic sounds of the band Manouche Noir, featuring gypsy jazz.
Following the deaths of 60,000 bumble bees in Wilsonville and Hillsboro, the role of pesticides and the health of bees has become a global topic of concern and one that hits home in Oregon. State lawmakers passed portions of the Save Oregon’s Pollinators Act during the 2014 short legislative session and will address the issue again in the 2015 session. Earlier this year, the Eugene, the City Council voted unanimously to ban neonicotinoids from use on all city property. From large scale bee keepers who transport bees across Oregon to provide pollination services for carrot growers, to backyard gardeners who want to have hives for honey production and urban farming, the survival of bees is at the forefront of environmental protection work.
“Almonds are crucial to pastry making, and bees are crucial to almond pollination,” said Tobi Sovak, of Noisette. “To be a good pastry chef means I need to pay attention to how almonds, honey, berries, and other ingredients are pollinated by bees. Without them, I wouldn’t have the prime ingredients for baking.”
Thirteen close-up photographs of bees and flowers will grace the restaurant. The exhibit grew from Beyond Toxics’ annual photography contest, Imagining a World Beyond Toxics.
“The images are amazing because the photographers were able to capture the bee in her everyday world of intense colors and textures,” said Arkin.
Come taste the pastries and ice cream, listen to music and gaze at the thirteen top winners of the 2013 Beauty of the Bee photography competition from 5:00-7:00pm on Friday, April 4. Noisette, located at the intersection of Broadway and Charnelton, is Stop #16 on the First Friday Art Walk tour.
