Celebrate the beauty of plants and photography! Join us to learn about cyanotypes, a special photographic process that uses sunlight, and make your own prints using botanical pictures, seeds, or plant matter. 

Registration is free but required to hold your place. No experience is required, and all materials will be provided. Participants are welcome to bring their own flowers or other materials to make the prints.

Please note this is scheduled as an outdoor workshop! We will meet in the Fenwick Library lobby before moving outside. In the event of rain or inclement weather, we will move indoors to Fenwick 2001.

This workshop is offered in conjunction with the opening of Fenwick Library’s Seed Library and the exhibition Cross-Pollination on view in Fenwick Gallery through April 25.

Location: Fenwick Library Atrium (rain location: Fenwick 2001)
Instructor: Liz Louise Johnson, MFA candidate & Fenwick Gallery GRA

How can a mask tell your story? How can you interject new meaning into discarded, recycled materials?

In this poetry and art workshop, artist Steven Luu will lead participants through the creation of collage self-portrait masks using recycled scrap paper, turning waste into treasure. 

Masks can represent concealment and revelation, enabling individuals to take on different roles and stories. They are a means to express, to act, and to be. Materials also carry significant meaning: discarded scraps of paper carry the stories and memories from different people and places. Through collage, we can remix these materials into new forms and memories, a meditative process that allows us to contemplate our own identities and experiences.  

Registration is free but encouraged to save your place. All materials are provided, but participants are encouraged to bring their own discarded letters, photos, or other materials to incorporate into the collage.

Join artist Jorge Bañales for re(IMAGINE), a hands-on workshop inspired by the Fenwick Gallery’s current show, re[FORM]er, co-curated by Bañales and artist Steven Luu. 

This exhibit explores the power of materials to transport our memories. Bañales will guide participants through creating unique photo sculptures using disregarded 35mm negatives and photographic prints.

Photo sculptures transform familiar images into dynamic, dimensional art pieces, allowing participants to reimagine memories and meaning. Participants are encouraged to bring their own photographs to personalize the experience, though all materials will be provided.

The workshop will last approximately one hour, beginning with a tour of the gallery and an introduction by Jorge, followed by 45 minutes dedicated to crafting a photo sculpture.

Registration is free but encouraged to save your place.

Time to get inky! You want to make prints, but what do you do if you don’t have access to a printing press? Before the printing press was invented, blocks were printed by hand. Learn how to carve and print using soft easy-carve relief blocks. You will be given suggestions on size and concept, but ultimately the imagery is left up to you. Best of all, you’ll have learned all the basic techniques to continue creating prints using your own designs after the class is over!

Slots are extremely limited and your registration is a reservation. If you are unable to attend the workshop, please email Alissa Maru (amaru@gmu.edu) 3 days prior to offer your reservation to another participant.
All materials will be provided.

Join us for a translation workshop in celebration of the exhibition Metamorphosis, led by poet and translator Heather Green (Asst. Prof., School of Art).

Participants will consider a poem, originally written by Sappho in ancient Greece, then translated into Latin, more than a thousand years later, by Catullus. After reading these poems and discussing their history of metamorphosis across languages and time, participants will create their own translations, whether speculative, visual, or through a contemporary literary lens.

LOCATION: Fenwick Library Main Reading Room (2001)

Registration is free but required. All supplies will be provided!

Join us for a conversation with Jennifer Lillis, one of the artists featured in the Fenwick Gallery exhibition Metamorphosis!

• 11:00AM-1:00PM: Coffee and casual conversation in Fenwick Gallery

• 1:30PM-3:30PM: Paper Casting Workshop at Mason School of Art, Room 1009 (Printmaking & Book Arts Studio)

All snacks and materials are provided. Participants are also welcome to bring their own 3D object to cast (natural materials like wood and stone are recommended).

Registration is free but required. Sign up below!

Thursday, February 8, 2024 @4:45pm - 6:30pm 
TAEKYEOM LEE

Taekyeom Lee is an educator, maker, and designer whose research explores unconventional materials and digital methods to graphic design, to create 3D type, graphics, and even designed objects. This research began with two questions: Where does typography belong in the post-digital age? How do we bridge digital and physical experiences?

This event will be held in Center for the Arts Lobby, on the GMU Fairfax campus, and via Zoom. RSVP is required for Zoom link.

The Center for the Arts is building #7 on the campus map. The nearest paid visitor parking is available at the Mason Pond Parking Deck.

Join us for a Tactile Design Workshop led by Taekyeom Lee in Gillespie Gallery of the Art and Design Building of GMU’s Fairfax Campus on Thursday, February 8, from 11am-1pm.

No experience is required, but you must bring a laptop to work with the 3D software. The software (https://www.tinkercad.com) will run on the web browser. Participants do not need to install anything.

Samples will be provided for inspiration.

Taekyeom Lee is one of 12 artists in Disrupt and Resist. In the exhibition, he presents several 3D printed embossers that visitors can use to print the English alphabet in Braille.

Taekyeom Lee is a multidisciplinary designer, educator, and maker. His research explores unconventional materials and alternative solutions to create tangible typography, graphics, and even designed objects using digital fabrication. He infused 3D printing into his research and has been experimenting with various methods and materials for tactile experiences. His latest project aims to make graphic design more accessible with tactility and materiality.