Tuesday August 4, 2026 11:45am - 12:45pm EDT
Art Happenings 2026 : What We Hold in Common
This year’s Art Happenings invite you to explore What We Hold in Common—the shared stories, values, and experiences that connect us. Each session offers a different creative pathway to reflect, make meaning, and express what binds us together.
As you choose, consider what resonates with you—whether it’s storytelling, design, reflection, or collaboration. No experience is needed—just come ready to create, connect, and contribute to something larger than yourself.
Art Happening Hosts
Beaded Connections: Crafting Common Ground- Hosted by Agnes Gomez (Spanish Speaking Session)
Location: Carriage House Room 105
Join us for a playful, hands-on session where we create beaded friendship bracelets using simple materials and shared imagination. Inspired by WISIT’s focus on thinking, creativity, and agency, participants can make as many bracelets as they like, choosing to keep them or share them with others as a way to spark connection and meaning. As we design with color and pattern, we will reflect on what we hold in common and how learning happens through doing, sharing, and making together.
Around We Go: Circle Collages- Hosted by Adrienne Gayoso
Location: LCB Design Lab
Learn about the symbolism, personal memories, and community connections of Yayoi Kusama's and Howardena Pindell's circle-centric artworks. Consider your own relationship to this shape, create a collage to celebrate the circle, and contribute to a collaborative artwork.
Art in Exchange- Hosted by Ellen Lafferty
Location: Carriage House Room 107
Join us for a relaxed, hands-on art session where we’ll create accordion books filled with small, tradeable art cards. Each person will make a series of mini artworks, then swap cards with others. As you collect and share, your book becomes a mix of your ideas and the work of the group—showing how meaning grows through connection.
The Common Thread: Stitching What We Hold in Common- Hosted by Angelica Guerrero
Location: MS Studio Sol (Library) - First Floor of the MS Building
Join a joyful hands-on textile experience where thread becomes a language for connection, reflection, and play. Through simple embroidery and collective making, we will explore the question What do we hold in common? As each participant adds a symbol, word, or stitch to a shared textile piece, individual stories will intertwine into a vibrant tapestry of belonging, humanity, and hope. No sewing experience needed - just curiosity and a willingness to create alongside others. Come slow down, make with your hands, and discover the threads that connect us all!
Sole Steps-Hosted by Erica Jones
Location: MS Room 110
Inspired by Helen Zughaib’s The Places They Will Go and the storytelling power of sneaker culture, participants will adopt a maker mindset and design and construct a symbolic shoe. Each creation holds personal stories, values, and aspirations, coming together as a shared expression of identity, memory, and what we carry in common.
Exploring Fluidity and Permanence with Watercolor- Hosted by Ash Beck
Location: MS Mad Lab
Participants will use ink and watercolor to explore what we share with others and our environments. Participants may choose to develop their own visual metaphors or collaborate with others to recognize and create a shared landscape of meaning.
Printmaking for Social Justice- Hosted by: Reshada Pullen Jireh
Location: MS Art Studio I
Join Artist and Educator Reshada Pullen-Jireh for an exploration of printmaking. Printmaking is a democratic medium that allows creators and audiences to experience widespread shared knowledge. Participants will have the opportunity to create a print from scratch and walk away with a foundational lesson plan inspired by the works of Favianna Rodriguez, Emory Douglass, and student creators.
Other Art Happening Hosts TBA:
Joanne Lamparter- Imagination Stage
Location: MS Room 111
Tuesday August 4, 2026 11:45am - 12:45pm EDT
