Willits Mendo ArtsStravaganza: Free Workshops and Zine and Print Fest April 27, 2024 and Free printmaking workshop April 6 and 13 at Willits Center for the Arts.

On April 6th and 13th Willits Center for the Arts will host free a workshop: Liberation Print Making and Zines with Mariangela Le Than. Participants of all ages (even children with an accompanying adult) will dive into the world of zines and inspire each other to create their own mini zine from start to finish.
Finally on April 27th the Willits Center for the Arts will host their very first Willits zines and prints market from 11 am to 5 pm in which local artists will be selling their work on paper. Work from the previous workshops will also be displayed and available for purchase.
In addition, there will be other free opportunities to make art during the Zine and Print Fest:
Social Justice Collage workshop with Jazzminh Moore
Pour Your Heart into Art: Acrylic Pouring with Eli Laughton
Mariangela Le Thanh “Thao” (they/them) is a Vietnamese artist Mendocino resident who was chosen by the Upstate Creative Corps (through the California Arts Council) as a Willits Center for the Arts as a WCA Atrs Stravaganza/Mendocino Creative Corps grant recipient in 2023.
Thao believes that love holds both truths and practical solutions and that the role of art in society is to help us peek over the walls of our own fear, shame, ignorance to show that something beautiful, and possible, lives beyond it. The goal is not to create a separate, individual piece of artwork but to stir our imagination: a powerful source inside all of us that is the first prerequisite for believing and then creating. Thao’s life and artistic practice are an ongoing reflection on how our human experiences are interconnected and it requires never-ending learning and unlearning. They wish to share their skills and reflections with the Mendocino community through 2 upcoming FREE classes through the Willits Center for the Arts: Prints for Collective Liberation on April 6th and Intro to Zinemaking on April 13th. In these classes Thao invites other citizens of Earth to join them with the aim of collectively creating a safe space for grief, action and imagination. On April 6th they will demo multi color block printing, a medium that has long been used to create work in the name of justice and resistance to oppression everywhere. We will reflect on how all our freedoms are tied together and how change can only be achieved if we are willing to be vulnerable, look inward and act outward.
Jazzminh Moore received her BFA from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle and MFA from California State University, Long Beach, both in Drawing and Painting. She has had solo exhibitions in NYC, LA, SF, Paris and elsewhere. Her work has been featured in various publications including New York Magazine, Whitewall, New American Paintings, Huffington Post, ArtVoices and Interview Magazine. Jazzminh is currently adjunct faculty in the Art Department at Mendocino College.
A native of San Francisco, Elias Laughton found himself a resident of Mendocino County in the early 1980's, where he still joyfully resides. “Having no formal training in the Arts, I feel unbound by convention, and my creative process is liberated from expectations of a certain aesthetic outcome...I was fortunate to discover an Acrylic Pouring workshop being offered by local artist Rossi Jensen in August of 2018, and I've been painting ever since."
Elias describes his art as "experimental abstract" and tries to explore the relationship between the seen, and the Unseen. "As an abstract artist, I chose to limit my own personal influence upon my audience, and instead, allow the paints and mediums to create the composition..." Elias also proudly donates 10% of his total sales to the Anderson Valley Animal Rescue society.
These free events are made possible by the Upstate California Creative Corps grant. See https://www.upstatecreativecorps.org/ . Willits Center for the Arts is pleased to be able to make these events free of charge including materials. WCA is located at 71 East Commercial Street, Willits, CA. See more on our website https://www.willitscenterforthearts.org/ .
For more information, contact Sasha Thomas at manager@willitscenterforthearts.org