Artist Tao LaBossiere hopes to create a sensation around EcoSpace 224 Farmington Avenue through his large-scale artwork "Bee the Change: The Asylum Hill Pollinator Mural".

LaBossiere's multimedia mural-style works use images of giant bees and honeycombs to help define the space's community mission and environmental issues. It also promoted 224 Ecospace's new color artist acceleration program, which aims to support and empower local artists.

224 EcoSpace defines itself on its website as "Hartford's premier arts, health and wellness social enterprise, where changers work, create and lead." The center offers galleries, co-working spaces, yoga and dance studios. And the "sacred place for performances."

The project was unveiled on Saturday afternoon at a ceremony attended by more than 100 people, including supporters of the ecological space, neighbors of Sanctuary Mountain and other artists.

"They are very happy," Tao Rabosier said. "They said,'Can I touch it?' I said yes, of course. It can withstand various elements." He said the mural is "a lighthouse that has attracted people to the neighborhood."

The central image of the bee comes from many different inspirations. The title of the work "Bee the Change" is derived from Mahatma Gandhi's famous saying "Be the change you want to see in the world". "Tao likes to use puns in his work," said Amy LaBossiere, who married Tao and serves as his project manager. The Asian-American artist also likes the hexagonal shape in the honeycomb to evoke the overall Chinese symbolism. Among other things, bees are designed to represent community ideals such as sustainability, social justice, and pride in the neighborhood.

"I deliberately installed the bees so that they would float on the wall. I wanted to add a sense of shadow to the artwork itself." The shadows they cast were huge. "To make them huge, the more important thing is the bees themselves."

He also hopes that this work will have an "environmental work on the disappearance of bees", which have been affected by diseases and other obstacles in recent years. Scientists say that the continued decline in the number of bees may have serious consequences for the environment.

Another source of inspiration for the huge buzz: behind the 224 Ecospace Zone, there is a bee-friendly "pollinator garden".

Smaller bees will be placed on nearby light poles, and other bees will be posted on the upcoming bus station area.

LaBossiere decided to respect the outline of the external siding when studying the 224 Ecospace building, so he planned to create sculptures that extend from the walls.

Because he wanted to challenge and make it a true mixed media work, he added dew, a water-like image that required spray paint, instead of the paint he used elsewhere. "The dewdrops are as big as the lid of a trash can," Tao said. "They represent sadness in joy." He wanted to acknowledge the struggle that communities face as they celebrate and achieve positive change. Later in the project, he added African daisies (on the left side of the artwork) and African violets (on the right side) as "intentional metaphors for African Americans."

The 224 Eco Space Mural is a commissioned artwork. Mr. Tao personally completed most of the work, including the welding, painting and construction of the bee sculpture. He was commissioned to create murals for companies throughout the Hartford area, including many well-known restaurants: Crab Shack, Pond House Cafe in Elizabeth Park, Penta Bistro and Craft Bar in Farmington, Newington and Manchester Joey's Garlic Restaurant and the new Salute location on Rocky Hill.

"This is always a collaborative process," the artist said of his relationship with clients. "It's not just'paint this on my wall'." "

You can contact Christopher Arnott at carnott@courant.com.