Katie Finch, Audubon Community Nature Center senior nature educator, left, and artist Wendy Bale are ready for the Friday, Aug. 1, unveiling of Audubon’s newest educational exhibit that’s all about bees. View the live demonstration honeybee hive, visit with the artist and educators, and enjoy refreshments, all for free.

On Friday, August 1, 5-7 p.m., local multi-disciplinary artist Wendy Bale will unveil the Audubon Community Nature Center’s newest educational display: an interactive exhibit about honeybees.

Area residents are invited to visit with the artist and nature educators, interact with the display, view the live honeybee hive, and enjoy snacks and drinks, all for free.

Reservations are appreciated by calling 716-569-2345 or at AudubonCNC.org/events. Walk-ins are welcome.

Bale works in charcoal and clay but is primarily known for her paper sculptures.

Working with Audubon educators, Bale created 22 colorful, layered paper-cut images about honeybees, native bee species, and bee look-alikes. The images were installed in individual hexagon-shaped cells as an upgrade to a beautifully built, existing wooden honeycomb display. In each cell, answers to questions or more details are revealed when the corresponding button turns on a backlight.

“For this light box project, I explored the challenges of creating art that would both be viewed from the front and reveal something exciting when illuminated,” Bale said. “The interactive nature of the display makes learning about bees fun.”

A Guild of American Papercutters member, Bale said she particularly enjoys discovering innovative techniques within this versatile material. Her work can be found in regional and national galleries and online at WendyBaleArt1st.com.

Funding for the project is made possible through Arts Services Inc.’s Creative Impact Fund through to a New York State Senate Initiative supported by the state Legislature and the Office of the Governor, and administered by the New York State Council on the Arts.

The Audubon Community Nature Center is located at 1600 Riverside Road, one-quarter mile east of Route 62 between Jamestown and Warren. Visit the nearly 600-acre nature preserve, check in on the live birds of prey, enjoy the native tree arboretum, gardens, picnic area, and hike more than five miles of trails dawn until dusk daily for free.