Resident-Led Art Night Brightens PHA Common Spaces

Hello there! I hope you’re enjoying all the flora and art popping up in our common spaces! If you’re like me, a touch of color really makes a place feel more homey. All of the art was made by Pres House Apartment residents/staff, and a good deal of it was made at our Art Night last month. I was so happy to be able to involve our community in the redecoration. How cool is it that we live somewhere where that’s possible?? Congrats to everyone who attended, I absolutely love all of your pieces!

I’ve been an artist for my whole life—my interests vary widely but some of my longest-run focuses include music, collage, baking, and using recycled/found materials. That’s also what I’ve been studying in college for the past year—before that, I did two years studying percussion performance and music education. I am also an educator and currently I work with kids. I prefer working in non-academic settings because of the freedom that gives me to explore any topic.

Art is a silly thing. A lot of people (including me) succumb to the urge to slap on layer after layer of goopy critique and meaning and all that to it. Which is plenty fun, honestly. But sometimes we just need to enjoy a moment without getting into the weeds. For me, that’s where art begins. Getting out of my mind, my anxiety, anything I’m stuck in, and into my body and a place where I can befriend my thoughts.

That was the approach for our Art Night—a nice, low pressure event with snacks, chitchat, and freedom to plop anything down on a canvas. A lovely standard PH affair, really, and a nice thing to do during the summer. I hope in the future we can all make more things together, and use that as a way to get to know each other!

Art is a way to bring people together and make events like that happen. In my world, art of our time is about transformation, fun, and community. It can be big stuff, like city-wide projects, or it can be as small as drawing fish for your cat (I highly suggest putting cute doodles on your wall at cat-height). I hope you’re able to find something to keep you grounded this year, whatever that may be.If you ever feel like doing some projects and want company, you know where(ish) to find me!

-Luka is a 4th year this fall, previously a student in Music Education with a focus in percussion performance, and currently pursuing a Bachelor of Art. Some of Luka’s ongoing focuses include accessibility of education and queerness/neurodiversity in the arts.