Muses by Camila Tapia-Guilliams, 2021, Acrylic Paint on Wood.
Sunday April 10 * 2-4pm * MASKS REQUIRED * REGISTER
The Art of Self-Empowerment will investigate how social and creative identities intersect through mixed media art, collaborative discussion, and creative work. Participants will warm-up with a poem or drawing about how one of their social identities affects their creative practice, then they will share and discuss this with the rest of the participants. Afterwards, participants will be put into groups and collaborate on either a one-act play, dance, musical piece, or educational offering about self-empowerment, before showcasing it to the group. The goal of this workshop is to encourage participants to think critically about how they care for themselves through art, how their self-empowerment involves creative action, and how collaboration and group dynamics interact with an individual creative identity. Participants are encouraged to bring journals and dry media to use during the workshop.
Camila Tapia-Guilliams (they.them) is a mixed media artist, educator, and community organizer based in DC. Weaving together narratives of social sustainability, cooperation, and the solidarity economy, Camila’s art also explores their identities as a Latine, chronically ill, queer, non-binary person. They created and led the Cooperative Arts Cohort, and are the Co-Lead on the Community Team for Anticapitalism for Artists. They currently work at the Phillips Collection in Community Engagement and are collaborating with other creatives on starting a worker-owned arts cooperative. Their work has been featured in a variety of DC-MD-VA galleries and is being shown at the Stamp Gallery in alternative universe: visualizing queer furtuisms until April 6th, 2022. Further, they have organized events, classes and exhibitions in conjunction with numerous arts collectives. You can find out more about them and their projects on their Instagram @byunnaturalcauses or by reaching them at byunnaturalcauses@gmail.com.
Melly is a fire dancer and visual artist. She is also a graduate level student currently attending Loyola University Maryland in pursuit of her Master’s in Clinical Professional Counseling. In addition to working at Creative Psychological Services in Catonsville, Melly has her own business as a creativity coach where she helps others unblock creativity. You can hear more about her creative business in this interview and find her work @melly.moves on Instagram.