The Painting and Mixed Media Workshop was held at 1 p.m. Aug. 22 in Room 16 of the Garvey Fine Arts Center. About seven participants attended the session, which provided an opportunity to explore creativity through hands-on artmaking.
Guided by the workshop facilitator, attendees experimented with blending traditional painting techniques and modern mixed media methods. The program emphasized layering, texture and material combination, while also encouraging collaboration among participants. During the workshop, participants chose from various images to create their own portraits.
Aisah Imani Sanaa, visiting artist for the workshop, discussed the artistic process of creating graphic fabrics and printing them large, 11 by 7 inches. She suggested using paper collage in clothing portraits encouraging personalization by selecting elements that resonate with the individuals.
“I am an interdisciplinary artist and I focus on wellness and community projects but my studio work is mixed media work. I really just tell historical stories of the black community. We are creating artwork based on the Harold exhibit that is up in thulvane Art gallery and recreate our own version of historical renaissance paintings,” Sanaa said.
Stacy Ash, co-ordinator of Mulvane Art Museum runs the art lab and hires professional teaching artists to come and give workshops for public learning directly from the artists.
“Harold Smith takes historical paths and portraits from art history and reimagines them with black protagonists. Smith’s series is titled around folk saints and common places that reflects his desire to see people of color represented in art,” Ash said.
Katie Denholm, junior criminal justice, forensic investigation and science major, talks about how she got to know about this workshop.
“I found out about this event through my roommate Maddie and then I just like to do art so I just came,” Denholm said.
Maddie Mclntire, junior film and video major, talks about how her roommate influenced her to come to this event.
“I got an email that had some of the list of events on campus this week and I like paintings so I came,” Mclintire said.
The workshop concluded at 3:15 p.m., leaving participants with new techniques, fresh inspiration and a deeper appreciation for creative expression.
Edited by Stuti Khadka
