Print Making & African Art

On Wednesdays we craft.

I love arts and crafts. Ask my mom and dad and they will tell you that I could spend countless hours in Michael's, AC&Moore, Hobby Lobby, and anywhere the like. I especially like big projects. If it involves paint, fabrics, a staple gun, and furniture....hit me up. Nothing stops me from crafting. Once I began an upholstery project the day  I had my wisdom teeth removed. Did I regret it? Yes, the next day my mouth was in pain from the jolting of the staple gun. Did I love the finish project? Heck yes I did. My old Loose Lucy tapestry looked amazing as wall decoration in my apartment! All of this being said, I couldn't believe it when our intern Lunch and Learn turned into a crafting session. Our Lunch and Learn was with the Education department and they had us experience the world of prints. Beside the fact the Education Department is made up of an amazing group of ladies, they won me over with crafts. Using a linoleum-ish material, some doo-dads, and some black paint goop we were all able to create our own works of art!

After sketching your pattern, you carve it out with the doo-dad.

After the carving, you cover the pattern with paint goop and press onto a canvas.

I enjoyed this project and some of the girls were mentioning how you could easily use different colored paint goop to create original curtains, pillows and fabric. What a great idea to bring a little bit of your creativity into your living space. Thanks for the keepsake, Education Department.

This project was a great preset to our tour of the African Art exhibit with the original African Art curator at the High. Although her thoughts were running rampant, you could easily recognize her passion for her job. She became the first African Art curator at the High back in 2001. She knows all the pieces like the back of her hand, and was given the opportunity to design every aspect of the exhibit --which she takes great pride in. The African Art exhibit space is very small in comparison to the High's total square footage. Another down side about this exhibit is its location within the Museum. It is on the bottom floor and usually overlooked by Museum-goers. Whenever I visited the Museum back in May I never even knew the lower exhibit space existed. Fortunately, I was able to attend this private curatorial tour and learned some fascinating facts about African culture and their arts.

The African Art curatorial tour and Lunch and Learn were a random, yet pleasant, surprise in my schedule this week. As these events typically occur on Fridays, my sense of time was slightly thrown off. Not only did today feel like a Friday, due to our intern shenanigans, but my whole department was out of the office. Two members are on vacation, one is currently working remotely, one is in New Mexico on a business trip with the Senior Director of Marketing, and another left early for a doctor's appointment. That simply left me, Megan and Ellie to cover for the Marketing Department. Everything was extremely quiet and laid-back. I don't know what we're going to do next week when everybody is back in the swing of things. It'll definitely be a wake up call.

Although many were out of the office, it actually left Megan and me with more projects to cover. Even though our team steps out of the office does not mean the world of marketing goes on vacation as well. Today we finished logging 95% of all media clips for the High and are currently waiting on Office Max to hook us up with our order request. We also had a chance to hand deliver the remaining promotional coupons to South City Kitchen and Empire State South (and mail the other restaurants). That project has officially been marked off the list! Now we are on to the next mailing project -which we saw sitting neatly on our desks when we checked out for the day. Although it stinks to have our whole department MIA this week, it has given Megan and me a chance to take on higher responsibilities. Higher-priority projects are being handed over and we take them with eager hands!
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Today surprised me. A good surprise, that is. I realized that partaking in an internship program is the best opportunity I could have been given. I was never against the idea, but I also never thought it was anything spectacular. Well, today I changed my mind 100%. During the Lunch and Learn, our intern leader Oshun sat at my table and talked to us about life, jobs, education, and the awful Southern heat! Oshun has been awesome since day one of interning, but today she really shined in my eyes. She served as an individual worthy of being a role model. Funny thing is, she works with many senior citizens with the docent program at the High. I know for a fact that every one of those docents, even 40 years her senior, look up to Oshun. Her friendliness, knowledge, life style, and understanding personality make her an amazing addition to the Education Department at the High. They made the best decision when asking her on board.

If you think I am the only one who loves being involved in an internship program, think again. Just read what my best friend Megan said about her internship at the advertising agency 22 Squared. It isn't always about the perks, the money or the benefits. Sometimes it is about the camaraderie and what you make of it.

*Read Megan's 22 Squared blog entry on the company's website.