The Tarble Arts Center hosted an educational art lab called “Create with Care” by graduate assistant Lilly Ames from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on April 21.

Ames is the artist and creator behind the workshop. She provided high quality paper, colored pencils, pencil sharpeners and a 10-page creative workbook she made herself.

The workbook included easy drawing prompts which was used to help students practice expanding their creativity.

The workshop is open to all students whether they actively practice artistic hobbies or not.

The goal for the workshop was to provide students with loose instruction for drawing exercises which allows for a judgment free environment.

The prompts included Mono-Moment, Build a Bridge, Automatic Art, Break a Pattern, and more.

All the prompts were open-ended, and Ames claimed that they had just enough instruction to inspire the participant.

“There’s a lot of different activities in the book and I’m sure there’s one for everybody,” Ames said. “We can learn to explore our minds without judgment and remain present in the moment of making.”

The act of loosely creating art can be to ease the mind and relax the body.

All participants were visibly peaceful and positive while following the creative workbook.

Some people had something to share on their pages with a variety of different ideas spawning from the same prompt.

Ames claimed she is very satisfied with the workshop’s turnout and plans to host more next semester.

She said it is rewarding to work with others and to encourage their creativity. She hopes that future workshops will see more non-art students who participate and enjoy the creative exercises because she believes everyone could learn something from the prompts.

There were approximately 12 participants in the workshop altogether.

Community members other than Eastern students were in attendance from the Academy of Lifelong Learning and the School of Extended Learning.

The workshop was offered online for free registration.

According to Program Coordinator Daniel Douglas, “We want to continue to make sure our programs are accessible to everybody.”

He claimed that the future workshops will likely be free to students as well.

Ames currently has her own artwork on display in Tarble’s 2023 MA in Studio Art Exhibition until May 6, 2023.

For more information on this workshop and future educational art labs, contact Lilly Ames at artbylillylee@outlook.com.

Jenna Strauss can be reached at 581-2812 or at jlstrauss@eiu.edu.