Bee Violet
‘Bee Violet’, commissioned for PVDFest 2020, will collect rainwater and dew throughout the summer. The sculpture uses an upper canopy with leaf shapes and rain chains that direct water into a vessel with a holding capacity for 500 gallons of rainwater.
The rainwater collected will be used to water the ‘Three Sisters’ garden, which is an inter-planting of corn, squash and beans that thrive together, using a traditional agricultural method of the indigenous Native Americans. Newsome partnered with Seaconke Pokanoket Wampanoag artist Deborah Spears Moorehead on the brass charm designs, inspired and informed by their contemplation of a ‘Three Sisters’ garden.
‘Bee Violet’ comes from the term used in how bees have the ability to see ultraviolet light patterns on flowers to help bees navigate when they forage.
Allison Newsome partnered with Wampanoag artist Deborah Spears Moorehead to develop the concept for Bee Violet. Though Allison was familiar with the three sisters garden concept previously, working with Deborah offered a deepening understanding of this creation story. Deborah Spears Moorehead’s drawings (seen below) depict the story of Sky Woman who upon landing on the earth gave birth to the three sisters; corn, beans and squash. Moorehead’s drawings were then hammered into aluminum by Newsome, who traveled to Thailand to do so under a master repousse artist. Bee Violet has touched communities around the world while deeply rooted right here in Wampanoag land.
This artistic partnership evolved into a deepening understanding of colonial history in Providence and reparative interaction. Deborah Spears Moorehead provided instructions as to how to traditionally fertilize the soil in preparation for the planting of the three sisters. This lead to a serendipitous meeting with a friend of Allison, who is a direct descendant of Roger Williams, and who offered to accompany them to harvest fish to prepare the garden’s soil.
Deborah Spears Moorehead will offer a Blessing Ceremony at the work’s unveiling (tbd). The Three Sisters garden will be watered using the rain collected in the adjacent sculpture which honors Sky Woman. The garden is mulched with reeds from water marshes as it is done traditionally, and also serves as a reminder that a great salt cove once thrived in the area of today’s Empire Plaza.
