A collaboration between The Drawing Studio, Raices Taller Gallery, and Roots & Roads Community Hospice, this series explores elements of traditional ofrendas (altars). Why and when do people make ofrendas? What do ofrendas look like? What goes onto ofrendas?

This workshop will focus on Alebrijes: animal spirit guides that help the souls of the deceased on their journey between the worlds of the living and the dead in the Mexican tradition. Participants will paint and decorate small paper mache animals while learning about the significance of including Alebrijes in ofrendas.

Materials provided by The Drawing Studio. Participants can bring photos or (copies of photos ) of those to be honored and remembered for Dia de los Muertos. Participants can also bring items that represent the favorite hobbies, foods, drinks of those they wish to honor. 

Welcome to “Beyond 27 Seconds, the How, What, and Why of Looking at Art”.  our NEW and FREE monthly Community Forum where we look at, talk about, and create art!  Do you know that the average time a person views an art piece is a mere 27 seconds?  In that time one may decide “I like it” ,“I don’t get it” “It’s good.” or maybe “My 6-year-old could do that.” But what does one really comprehend in such a short amount of time? In this fun and lively forum, we will learn how to better engage with, enjoy more deeply, and truly appreciate art – and the artist!  Each session, we will focus on such topics as: process, genre, medium, or group of artists, movement, or time period, with the goal of understanding how and why artists create and how we can view art in new ways to better interpret, connect with, and appreciate what we see! Each month one of our teaching artists will share curated works of art to lead the forum, with the first hour exploring concepts like   “What makes a piece of art effective?”  “Do I need to know “what” I am looking at to appreciate it?” “How did they do that?”  Once inspired, we will create a simple, yet exciting art piece relating to the topic of the month.  Join us each month, August through November at The Drawing Studio.  In December, we will have a field trip to a local museum to view real art “in the wild” and practice our new skills of seeing and engaging!