Greensboro Unveils 28-Foot Robot-Insect Sculpture Along Downtown Greenway April 12

Pete Beeman's 28-foot robot-insect sculpture, funded by the Cemala Foundation and permanently positioned where the Downtown Greenway crosses West Market Street, will be dedicated April 12 during a free community event running 2 to 6 p.m. at Greensboro College, 815 W. Market St.

The piece, titled "May-Bee and The Bot (in the Uncanny Valley)," depicts a retro-styled robot on bended knee with a stylistic hybrid of a mayfly and honey bee perched on its head. Visitors can move the insect's wings by turning a hand-crank on the robot's leg, and both figures are lit at night, keeping the installation active around the clock along a trail that now draws nearly 118,000 visitors a year. The sculpture anchors the point where the Greenway travels along an abandoned railroad line before meeting West Market Street, one of the corridor's most visible intersections.

Beeman, who builds sculpture in Portland, Oregon and New York City and was trained in art, engineering, and design at Brown and Stanford universities, describes the pairing as a statement about cooperation rather than conflict. "When I approached this project, I was thinking about this idea, of two disparate elements meeting and working together ... I wanted to bring the two together, nature and technology, in the same way the Downtown Greenway brings the urban and residential parts of Greensboro together," he said. He used a "goofy retro robot" to represent technology and the bee to symbolize nature and the environmental challenges bees face.

The dedication at 2 p.m. launches "Buzzing Into the Future," an afternoon that moves across the Greensboro College campus in three stages. From 2:30 to 4 p.m., local robotics teams, beekeepers, and community organizations will host hands-on exhibits in the Sternberger Center inside Jones Library, covering robotics, pollinator ecology, and environmental stewardship. At 4 p.m., a free screening of The Wild Robot, which explores the relationship between technology and the natural world, continues in Cowan Lecture Hall, just across the campus quad.

Dabney Sanders, the Downtown Greenway Program Manager, framed the installation as a catalyst for public dialogue: "It is always exciting to welcome a new piece of public art to the Downtown Greenway," noting the piece's ability to invite conversation.

The Cemala Foundation has supported multiple art commissions along the trail, which has drawn more than $50 million in combined public and private investment since construction began in 2001. Whether the interactive hand-crank proves durable enough to keep drawing walkers off the trail and into downtown on ordinary weekdays will be one practical test of that investment alongside foot-traffic counts on adjacent blocks.

Admission is free and all ages are welcome. Arrive early and allow walking time between the dedication site, Jones Library, and Cowan Lecture Hall. The Five Points trailhead at Eugene and Bragg streets offers Greenway access heading toward West Market Street; street parking is also available near Greensboro College along W. Market St. The Downtown Greenway website carries schedule updates and accessibility details.