As fans of Ela Minus’ music, we were so excited when she reached out to collaborate on a creative art workshop with herself and the visual designer of her Acts of Rebellion album, Ryan of DR.ME studio. Ela chose the quote “Nothing is a mistake. There’s no Win and no Fail. There’s only Make.” by Sister Corita Kent and John Cage as inspiration for the workshop and we went from there! It was important to all of us that folks coming to workshop get to fully participate in the process of creation from start to finish.

On the day of the workshop, we moved all our equipment to the gallery space in Williamsburg where the event was held. *Shout out to Transdimensional Movers for transporting our 500lb riso safely!* Soundcloud and Yours Truly Creative did a great job of transforming the gallery into an art-making studio.

Once participants came, they got to work cutting out and gluing images, textures and text that Ela and Ryan put together to create their own unique poster. We loved seeing people really slowing down & getting into the creative process, talking with friends over paper scraps and scissors and singing along to the music.

After making their poster, they brought it over to Gonzalo and Xena to scan on the risograph and print their posters! Participants got a few copies to take home and additional copies were brought to the zine making table. At this table, people grabbed a few different posters and stapled them together to create a zine. The different combinations of text and images made some great “happy accidents”.

In addition to making riso posters and zines, participants were also able to screen-print! Some folks brought their own t-shirts and bags to print, while others printed on black totes and tees. Tara guided them through printing themselves and they could choose from a couple of different designs. The combinations and placements that people chose were all unique and exciting - no two items were the same! People could also screen-print their own posters with Chey.

Overall it was a really great experience to foster a creative space for people to come and make. We really enjoyed ideating, collaborating, and facilitating this and look forward to doing more in the future.

Thanks Ela!