My love of Kitao’s art workshops runs deep. Kitao, the (beautifully decorated and incredibly cozy) student art gallery on campus, is one of my favorite places to unwind and hang out. It hosts studio nights every Wednesday – a time for students to gather, make art, and chat. On top of that, they hold workshops regularly to teach students how to use different artistic mediums and to explore art beyond their usual style. Studio night is always beautiful and fun (especially with all the yummy snacks from Trader Joe’s they provide), but I love their workshops more than anything!
A favorite workshop of mine that they hosted recently was on screenprinting (screen printing is basically a process where you place a cutout of a design on a mesh screen, cure the screen so that the design is “stuck” to the mesh, and then drag ink across the screen to transfer the negative space of the image onto a t-shirt, bag, or other kind of material). The leadership of Kitao showed us how to build a screen, how to keep it in the dark so that it cured properly, and how to complete the actual print. The first time around, we were still figuring things out, and some of the screens didn’t cure properly, but as time progressed and more screenprinting workshops were held, we got semi-professional with it and produced beautiful results! One of my friends, who’s on the E-Board of Kitao, made me a really beautiful tote bag with a tinned fish print he designed (I am a girl who has many tote bags, and that one is perhaps my favorite ever). These opportunities are also all completely free because of our cash-free campus. Kitao provided us with all the materials (including the blank tote bags, shirts, bandanas, etc.). Not having to pay for the materials makes trying all sorts of different artistic ventures super accessible.
Another workshop Kitao did that I really loved was one on cyanotyping. Cyanotyping is basically a process of capturing the shadow of an image using light-sensitive paper. At the workshop, we gathered flowers and pretty weeds near the studio, arranged them on the light-sensitive cyanotype paper, and then let them sit in the sun for around 15-20 minutes. After the sun worked its magic, we peeled back the flowers and weeds and were left with beautiful outlines of the plants we put down. The light-sensitive paper turns bright blue in the sun, but the covered areas remain white. So we were all able to leave with beautiful blue prints of some of the flowers surrounding Kitao (the flowers we picked weren’t ones that are protected by the arboretum as they were mainly the bolting flowers from sage plants in the communal garden near the studio).
Another one of my favorite workshops hosted by Kitao was a lino-cutting workshop. Lino-cutting is a print-making method where you carve a design into a linoleum (lino) block, rub ink over the block, and then press the ink-covered lino onto paper – leaving a print of the design. I had always wanted to try lino-cutting but never had the resources to try (buying the necessary materials can get pretty expensive). I didn’t want to invest in a hobby if I wasn’t sure I would like it. Luckily for me, Kitao was there to help! At the workshop I made several different linos including ones of strawberries, trees, cats, and more. It was so nice to finally be able to do something I had wanted to do since I was in high school but with all the materials and instructions being provided to me with my friends.
Going to Kitao’s studio nights and workshops has given me time to relax and recuperate after a stressful day or week. It’s enabled me to learn new techniques in a low-stakes and really fun environment. And maybe most importantly, it’s given me some really cool art and really great memories with my friends that I’ll cherish for a long time.
