CorkHouse Gallery is asking you to ‘Make Art Your Own!’ to celebrate Women’s History Month

March is Women’s HERstory Month, and on the 19th CorkHouse Gallery will be hosting “Make Art Your Own!” to celebrate.

With art auctions to benefit the Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia and free workshops galore, the event promises “imagination adventures for every talent, taste, time constraint, and tangible net worth” according to Gallery and Member Services Coordinator Carol Anthony.

The Art Scene: Is Savannah where artists work or an arts destination? Here are 3 ways to build a case

Amongst those “imagination adventures” will be the opportunity for visitors to participate in the creation of an exquisite corpse. For those unfamiliar with the artistic process, it essentially amounts to the drawing of a figure by multiple artists, but each person involved is only shown the barest edges of what the person before them has created. Once completed, the figure typically ends up being a fun and interesting amalgamation of styles and ideas.

“I’ll provide directional cards for people to have fun adding to the drawing,” explained Leslie Lovell, one of the event’s featured artists. “If there is a crew that wants to work on one together they can take the finished piece with them. I’ll highlight each piece on social media.”

In addition to helping to orchestrate art-making amongst the participants, Lovell is also acting as a partner in the overall organization of “Make Art Your Own!” through her Roots Up Gallery, which occupies the rear of the CorkHouse Space.

Amongst the other artists being featured in the auctions are folks who have connections to Roots Up, or who participated in a recent encaustic painting workshop by Christine Sajecki, who had an exhibition in Lovell’s gallery with her collaborative partner Michael Henderson back in November of 2021.

More: Christine Sajecki, Michael Henderson will make you connect with their show at Roots Up Gallery

“First timers and veteran artists came to learn how to paint with wax,” said Lovell of Sajecki’s workshop. “Everyone flexed their right side of the brain and produced pieces that were beautiful and creative. Showcasing pieces from the workshop during this event is a wonderful example of how to ‘make art your own.'”

Story continues

Additionally, Lovell has reimagined the entryway to Roots Up Gallery as a sort of prom photo booth, and visitors to the event will have the opportunity to take pics and imagine themselves as classic “most likely to” yearbook personas.

Amongst the other artists scheduled to participate in the event is Angel Ciolko, CorkHouse Gallery’s featured artist for the month of March.

Not only will Ciolko have several works on display, but she’ll also be creating an original piece on site starting at 11 a.m., after which she’ll be conducting an artist talk about her process and the work she’s made.

The Art Scene: Savannah Doll Show at the Beach Institute asks you to explore meaning of our history

“My main work is all female,” she explained. “To me it’s an awareness on just letting women know that they’re strong. That everyone one of us are different [but] we can all, if we hang in there with each other, we can lift ourselves up. It’s female power.”

For the on site p
roject, Ciolko will be creating one of her signature papier-mâché figures. She intends on pre-making the armature and base, and adding all of the embellishments the day of the event, so that folks can see how she does what she does.

“I’m just playing,” she said. “I’m playing and sharing with everyone what I’m making.”

Art off the Air: Shawn Turner knows his artwork is a bit weird. But he’s having a lot of fun with it.

Other planned events include “Glow Acrylic and Sand Bond Painting Under UV Light” with Rachel Milano at 11 a.m., and “Time to Play” with former Disney Theme Park Imagineer Greg Andrade at 2:30 p.m.

“Art can be intimidating,” said Andrade when discussing his workshop. “A big, blank piece of paper can be a scary thing for a lot of people. But it really shouldn’t be, because if you get into the mode of just play and just start doing something, make that first line…then suddenly it opens up this avenue and this expressive mode that most people don’t tap into very often.”

Andrade’s plan is to get people making art while dropping the self-imposed judgments and need to make something of lasting value.

Art off the Air: Toni Hazel is manifesting God through his art and it allowed him to find truth

“When you’re making something and you’re judging something at the same time, you can’t make it. You can’t sit there and judge every line you make and still make something of merit. You have to defer all that. That’s when you start having fun, when you are more childlike, and you’re not sitting there going, ‘Oh, gosh, that’s not as good as my neighbors.’

“So it’s sort of breaking down those walls of personal interaction with yourself and expression through art, and being free to do so in a non-judgmental environment where you’re invited to just do whatever it is you feel,” he added.

All of the activities planned for “Make Art Your Own!” are free, although due to space constraints potential visitors are encouraged to sign up for the workshops in advance by emailing Anthony at [email protected] with an indication as to how many are in your party and which workshops you’d like to attend.

On display: Jon Field, the latest On:View Residency artist, is asking the local community about the future

Additionally, although the event is a celebration in honor of Women’s HERstory Month, all are welcome. That said, the day will be dedicated to women, those who will be featured and the gallery, and all those who came before.

“I’d like people to have fun and feel like they are welcome and ‘belong’ in the gallery,” said Anthony. “I am hoping people will see there are many ways we can connect with art that make it accessible, relevant and meaningful to our everyday life and experience.”

Art off the Air: Is it a giant bluebird? A plane with eyeballs? Yes, but that’s the wild art of Maxx Feist

“To have a month to highlight the struggles and accomplishments of women is important for us all to continue to learn from and move forward in a positive and supportive way,” added Lovell. “So what makes this event even more important to me is to celebrate and thank all the women before me who have made my journey possible.”

“Make Art Your Own!” will take place on March 19 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at CorkHouse Gallery, located at 230 West Bay St. in Savannah. For the complete schedule of events visit corkhousegallery.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: CorkHouse Gallery honors Women’s History Month with Make Art Your Own