A perfect way to calm down during finals is to attend the innagural Women of Color- Mixed Race Women Art Exhibit, annual event, Friday from 3-5 p.m.
The exhibit will be a celebration for the students of the U.S. Women of Color class and the amazing and intense artwork and poetry that was produced throughout the semester.
Just to clarify, this is a women studies course, not art studio or creative writing. So, why is there an art exhibit and celebration for these students?
It may sound crazy, but teaching assistants Adriana Nieto and Laura Sachiko Fugikawa made it a part of the course work.
"(The students) had to respond to a book, a film or a guest speaker. They had a choice of doing a paper or responding creatively," Nieto said.
As for the quality of the creative responses to the class material, "it was all just so great," Nieto said, "I thought we should show them all together."
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The class read books and saw films that dealt with the intense issues of struggle that continue to face women of color from the United States and all over the world. Books like Gloria Anzaldua's Sin Fronteras and films such as "From Hollywood to Hanoi" are the impetus for creative reactions from the students.
This allowed them to use their voices too, after studying women who have been silenced, Nieto said. She added that this challenge was intended to give them the drive to do more than write objectively about issues such as race, class and gender.
"The readings were very heavy and so the students dealt with that and came up with some beautiful responses for it that made the whole experience (rewarding)," Nieto said.
This is the first time this course has been offered. Nieto and Fugikawa would like to see it return next semester and long after they graduate.
This exhibit makes a memory for them to have of this semester's class forever.
"This is a cool way to document the class," Nieto said.
In order to continue the tradition of the creative aspect of the class, Nieto has big plans for next spring's exhibit to be held at a local art gallery to give the students their own show and celebration.
Friday's reception and exhibit will be in Mesa Vista Hall in, according to the flyer, "the Women Studies/Women's Resource Center and everywhere in between."
