The European Paintings Council (EPC) will host a lecture with special guest Dr. Diane Bodart. Dr. Bodart is the David Rosand Associate Professor of Italian Renaissance Art History and Director of Undergraduate Studies at Columbia University.

The term “collage” derives from the French word for glue, and describes artwork made from a mix of materials. In this workshop, use the collage process and a mix of materials to create a portrait of someone important to you.

Free with admission; all supplies provided.

Join Dr. Frank Feltens to learn about a celebrated pair of Japanese painted folding screens, their Detroit history, and the innovative technology now making them accessible to new audiences. In 1906, industrialist and collector Charles Lang Freer acquired Waves at Matsushima by Tawaraya Sotatsu (active ca. 1600–43) and displayed them in his Detroit home.

After his death in 1919, his collection traveled to Washington, DC, to form the Freer Gallery of Art (now part of the National Museum of Asian Art, NMAA), the Smithsonian’s first art museum. Recently, Canon, Inc., the Kyoto Culture Association, and NMAA have created stunning high-resolution reproductions of these screens, using a combination of advanced technology and traditional craft.

These facsimiles, created by the Tsuzuri Project, can travel to locations in Japan and beyond, fulfilling Freer’s and the museum’s goal of cross-cultural understanding between Asia and America through the arts.

Frank Feltens is Curator of Japanese Art at the National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution. A native of Germany, he received his PhD in art history from Columbia University. He is a specialist in Japanese painting with a particular focus on the late medieval and early modern eras. 

This lecture is sponsored by the Detroit Institute of Arts’ Friends of Asian Arts and Cultures, the Freer House, and the Japan-America Society of Michigan and Southwestern Ontario. Additional support comes from Wayne State University, the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute, the National Association of Japan-America Societies, the United States-Japan Foundation, and the US-Japan Foundation Curators’ Perspective. 

Join master muralist Dr. Hubert Massey as he demonstrates the ancient painting method that Diego Rivera used in the creation of the Detroit Industry Murals. This will be the ultimate how-to and hands-on guide to buon fresco, a technique where the artist uses a hand-ground emulsion of mineral colors, oil, and water to paint directly onto wet plaster.

Murals created with buon fresco have a visual impact that cannot be copied in any other medium, and their colors remain vibrant for centuries. Dr. Massey has preserved the skills and vision of this technique in major murals at the Flint Institute of the Arts, Detroit Athletic Club, and recently, the Detroit Regional Convention Center.  

For families with children of all ages. Registration encouraged. 
 

Learn to make a hand puppet from various materials in the studio. Bring your imagination! No experience necessary. 

Use fabric, yarn and felt to turn a tongue depressor into a character worthy of its own puppet show!

Generations of Korean artists have made patchwork cloths called bojagi (say: boh-jah-ghee). Traditionally, they created these cloths from fabric scraps found at home, carefully sewing them together by hand.

Bojagi could be used to cover food, wrap gifts or precious items, or carry everyday things.

Today, contemporary artists are reengaging with this tradition, investing bojagi with new meanings. 
 

Come learn to use watercolor technique to make unique postcards for friends or family, or for yourself!

Fold, snip, unfold, snowflake! Bring the beauty of winter indoors as you learn to make old-fashioned paper snowflakes.

Use foam printing plates, water-based inks and a wooden stylus to create beautiful, one-of-a-kind hand-pulled prints on paper. Fold in half to make a card.  Envelopes are provided!