Shayne Herrera with his work at the Oct. 26 B.A.S.E. art show.
Black Art Student Empowerment has announced two events for early November that offer great opportunities to chat about and create artwork.
The B.A.S.E. Screen Printing Fundraiser will be held Friday, November 2, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Room 342, Fine Arts Building, 1000 W Broad St. Visitors are invited to decorate beanies ($5), drawstring bags ($5) or notebooks ($2).
B.A.S.E. will also hold a showcase on Friday, November 9 at the Anderson. Doors will open at 12 p.m., with the event officially starting at 7 p.m.
Since its inception, the student organization has hosted open critiques, workshops and discussions that invite students across the university to participate. B.A.S.E. held an independent gallery opening last week that demonstrated how much they invest in building creative spaces that engage the community.
B.A.S.E.’s October 26 show turned a small room in the Grace & Broad Residence Center into a bustling art exhibition. Students displayed handmade jewelry, illustrations, a set of painted portraits scorched by flames and a curtained installation.
Art Foundation student Angelina Winston shared an entire table’s worth of paintings and illustrations. Her piece Forced Dissimilation blends the sunny tones of her grandfather’s Jamaican house with the monochromatic street corner in the Bronx where her father grew up.
‘Forced Dissimilation’ by Angelina Winston
Winston has been a part of B.A.S.E. since she spotted the group at a student organization fair, and has been to every meeting so far. In addition to the organization’s stated goal of unifying black artists across VCUarts’ many departments, it also looks to educate students about the unique challenges they’ll face as professionals.
“There was an event where black artists in the industry came back to talk with us,” says Winston. “They gave really good, insightful advice about being an artist and being black and being in [the creative] industry right now.”
Fellow first-year student Shayne Herrera displayed his paintings in addition to t-shirt designs that he sells online. In one piece, a portrait of his friend, Herrera hid a message in American Sign Language.
“He has an afro, but it’s not as big as that,” Herrera says. “In his hair is sign language. The first line reads ‘BLK’ and the second line reads ‘PWR,’ which is supposed to signify ‘Black Power.’”
“I just wanted to do something that I was really passionate about.”
You can follow Black Art Student Empowerment on Instagram at @baseatvcu, or on Facebook at facebook.com/BASEAtVCU.
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