The Grafter's Shack is J. Morgan Puett's tribute to the individual beekeeper and the art of beekeeping, which have been passed down through four generations of the Puett Family. To celebrate the art, a bee grafter's shack was sited in a pine grove in the Herbert and Hyonja Abrams Woodland near existing hives. Inside the shack, Puett combines the cottage industries of beekeeping and sewing by incorporating both the tools used in keeping bees and the bee grafter’s outfit. This outfit, unique in the world of working apparel, calms the bees as well as protects its wearer. She has embroidered this custom-designed garment with a motif based on diagrams of the queen bee’s reproductive system along with myth and lore of beekeeping. Bees have long been associated with many different and often disparate groups. The visual culture of bees was exhibited alongside tools, books, and costumes. They have been the symbol for both democratic and totalitarian causes, and have been employed in religious texts and as symbols for the freemasons. Puett has worked with the volunteer beekeepers at Wave Hill, who maintain the hives on the property.

Remembering The Grafter's Shack by Lake Puett.

The Missing History by J. Morgan Puett.

J. Morgan Puett was raised in Hahira, Georgia, a small tobacco town that has strongly influenced her work. After receiving her MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago, she moved to New York and developed an ongoing project that took the form of designing clothing in environments that evoked the rural south. During the 1990's Puett operated a series of stores in lower Manhattan. Currently based in rural Pennsylvania, she works collaboratively on projects that focus on the artisan's workshop/studio. Other projects include Cottage Industry for Evoking Histories as part of the Spoleto Festival, Charleston, SC, 2002; The Ladies Field Club of York, a collaborative project with Mark Dion, Christine Burgin Gallery, NY, 2002; Give and Take: The Manhattan Tartan Project, Serpentine Gallery and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2002. www.jmorganpuett.com.

The Grafter's Shack Herbert and Hyonja Abrams Woodland, Wave Hill

Back wall and work bench at The Grafter's Shack

Work bench detail: Grafting with Plastic Queen Cells

Left wall at The Grafter's Shack

Right wall at The Grafter's Shack

Principal funding for the Visual Arts at Wave Hill is provided by the Stephen and Cathy Weinroth Charitable Trust. generated@wavehill is supported by the Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation.