Coming soon

Warren Craghead: Truth is Lies is Truth

November 18 | 8:30 -10:00am | The Fralin Museum of Art 

Warren Craghead III lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA with his wife and two daughters.

He likes to make pictures and has exhibited his work internationally. He has also published many works including the Xeric Grant winning Speedy and several collaborations with poets and writers.

He received an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin, and a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, and attended the Skowhegan School.

COME AT 8:30 to MAKE ZINES with WARREN!! 

Connect & Follow:

• Instagram: @wcraghead
• Twitter: @wcraghead 
• Facebook 
• Website

November ’s Theme is Truth.

Truth lies at the bottom of a well, winding from its source in the icepack of distant mountains. Truth tastes pristine, uncompromised by what would be profitable or convenient. Truth causes your body to hum like a tuning fork, resonating at the same frequency as the universe around you. “When you experience an undeniable truth,” writer and social worker Jessica Dore observes, “you will beg, borrow, and steal. You will rearrange your whole life, forsake everything, just to serve what is real.”

And yet the truth is fiercely contested when competing narratives collide. We forge our truth in a crucible, testing its strength through heat and hammering. Instead of smashing our convictions against one another like a particle accelerator, could we sort through the messy, contradicting facts from all around us, together? Can we wade through paradox, the dark tangle of it all, and make sense of the world?

Our Buenos Aires chapter chose this month’s exploration of Truth and Sol Cotti illustrated the theme.

About the speaker

My name is James “Littlez” Eugene Dowell JR.

Born in Jacksonville, NC and moved to Charlottesville shortly after.

Attended grade school (all 12 grades) here in Charlottesville and graduated from Charlottesville High School.

Received my Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from Radford University.

Cofounder of Prolyfyck Run Creww, whose main purpose is to work for the empowerment of those who support it, and highlight the historically marginalized Black and Brown communities through RUN.

I am an uncle to 6 nieces, 2 nephews and 1 goddaughter. I enjoy most traveling the world, exploring many different foods and would consider myself an extrovert who spends a lot of time with family.

You can find Littlez on Instagram @yunglittlez & @prolyfyckruncreww

October ’s Theme is Ethos.

Ethos is that specific quality that defines a place, time, or group of people. When you step into a room, a busy downtown, or a community gathering, you intuit its spirit. A messy DIY space invites experimentation and mistakes, a lush city park promises tranquility to anyone who seeks it. Maybe you even know of a monthly event where everyone is welcome and everything is free of charge. 

At its core is a paradox: despite the specificity of an ethos, it’s impossible to pinpoint or trace to a specific origin. What honed that distinctive sensibility is long gone, vanished into myth. 

With our actions and words, we embody these values and beliefs beyond conscious knowing. In turn, we subtly shape the ethos that our descendants — of family, of place — will receive from us. Ethos is alchemic, ineffable, and infinitely ponderable across place and culture. What ways of moving through the world did you inherit?

Our Asheville chapter chose this month’s exploration of Ethos and Colin Sutherland illustrated the theme. 

A Parallel of Practical Endeavors

Come hear from Matthew Gatto, Sculptor/Creator/Collector, on Friday, October 8, 2021 on DESIGN. 

“I am a lover of the classic Universal Monsters, first and foremost. Like many others, it really all started there for my interest in sculpting, etc. I truly appreciate those original creature designs that influenced the future generations to come. There is certainly the fair share of modern classics that are responsible from where my inspirations are derived, as well. When I’m not tending to my professional career as a Multimedia/Classroom Support Technician in higher education, sculpting and prop-building are some of the things that I enjoy working on in my personal time. In addition to making things, I am also a collector of monster and classic horror ephemera.”

You can find his work on Instagram and on his Website

October’s Theme is Design

We live in a world of design, an intention behind every encounter, every technology we touch, every structure we step through. Design is an alchemy, a marriage of material and meaning, investigation and inspiration, form and function.

To design is to create — out of nothing, something. To design is to play — an invitation to stay open and curious and reimagine in new ways. To design is to think — a method of learning through making, scraping failed experiments for fresh insight. To design is to be human.

Designers are called to operate in a way that transcends disciplines, making it possible to understand the world in all its complexity and envision passageways to more just futures. At their best, designers center the experiences of people whose needs have been overlooked, stepping outside of themselves and into their shoes. Design asks of us empathy and humility, if we are brave enough to answer.

Our Trois-Rivières chapter chose this month’s exploration of Design, Olivier Charland illustrated the theme, and Skillshare is presenting the theme.  

Laura Lee Gulledge (she/ her) is an author, cartoonist, and continually striving citizen artist based in Charlottesville. She has created three YA graphic novels for Abrams Books including the Eisner Award nominated “Page by Paige.” Her most recent release “The Dark Matter of Mona Starr” explores mental health & depression. She has also created an interactive book of “Sketchbook Dares,” a (newly virtual) graphic novel musical, and customized Rest*idencies for schools as a teaching artist. When not in her studio she’s likely in the woods, on a dance floor, or in the cheese department of Wegmans. You can learn more about Laura Lee on her website or follow her on Instagram! #artnerlove

Amber Karnes
May 14th, 2021, 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM EDT
Register Above!! 

Amber Karnes is a yoga teacher trainer, ruckus maker, the founder of Body Positive Yoga, and a lifelong student of her body. Amber trains yoga teachers and movement educators how to create accessible and equitable spaces for liberation and belonging. She also creates community for folks who want to build unshakable confidence and learn to live without shame or apology in the bodies they have today. Amber is the co-creator of Yoga For All Teacher Training and the Accessible Yoga School, president of the Accessible Yoga Association board of directors, and a sought-after contributor on the topics of accessibility, authentic marketing, culture-shifting, and community-building. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with her husband Jimmy. You can find her on Instagram at @amberkarnesofficial.

Elgin Cleckley, NOMA, is an Assistant Professor of Architecture and Design Thinking at the University of Virginia, School of Architecture. Elgin teaches Design Thinking Studios and foundation courses at the School of Architecture, with appointment in the UVA School of Education and Human Development and the School of Nursing. He is a designer, director, and principal of _mpathic design – a Design Thinking pedagogy, initiative, and professional practice focusing on intersections of identity, culture, history, memory, and place.  Current clients include the City of Lynchburg, the Albemarle Office of Equity and Diversity, and Dartmouth College.   

After studying architecture at the University of Virginia (’93) and Princeton University (’95), he collaborated with DLR Group (Seattle), MRSA Architects (Chicago), and Baird Sampson Neuert Architects (Toronto) on award-winning civic projects. He was a Muschenheim Fellow at the University of Michigan (1998), teaching undergraduate studios at the University of Illinois, Chicago. 

Before joining UVA’s Design Thinking program in 2016, he was the 3D Group Leader and Design Coordinator at the Ontario Science Centre (Toronto), Science Content and Design Department, and Agents of Change Initiative, since 2001. This work produced the world’s first museum/design thinking architecture space (Weston Family Innovation Centre), featuring award-winning exhibitions, educational facilities, and public art with international artists David Rokeby, Michael Awad, and Steve Mann, and Stacy Levy. 

“Moments of divergence can create beautiful futures.” Our Valencia chapter chose this month’s exploration of Divergent and Núria Tamarit illustrated it. It is presented Globally by Basecamp and HEY 

Technologist, author, and designer John Maeda explains, “A divergent thinker takes an idea and expands it. They look for new ways to connect it with other diverse things […] I’m in favor of a synthesis to connect the convergent and divergent.”

As creators, builders, and thinkers, how can we get better at solving complex problems? A promising starting point is for us to be in the same spaces with those we’ve traditionally deemed different. Moments of divergence can create beautiful futures when we are willing to leave space for change. Take a step back to reflect on what winds of change you want to welcome into your life today.

Sahara Clemons is a multimedia artist, designer, and activist born in Washington D.C and based in Charlottesville, Virginia. Playing with both the traditional and unconventional, Clemons creates paintings on wood and fabric, wearable art and fashion design. Her work confronts interpersonal and intersectional concepts and provides commentary on the historic political, and social trauma of people of color and its effect on shaping identity. You can learn more about Sahara on her website and can follow her on Instagram: @sgcoriginals

January’s Theme is Promise

A promise is doing something “because I said I would.” Promises can come in all shades, depths, and forms: appointments, acts of kindness, creating and quitting habits, agreements, and resolutions. Thanks to life’s unpredictability, we make and break them all the time.

But what is the value and impact of being individuals of our word?

In the Albanian culture, the word “Besa” means a code of honor and faithfulness. It exceeds the meaning of merely keeping a promise, thus becoming mythologized in its divinity as a solemn oath.

Promises that are made and kept are exchanges of power

We invite you to make and keep one promise to yourself and one promise to others this year. When applied towards positive impact, even the smallest fulfilled promises can create meaningful ripples of change.

Our Tirana chapter chose this month’s exploration of Promise and the talented Jolin Matraku illustrated the theme.

Yolonda Coles Jones is a Healing and Empowerment-Centered Coach, Home-Based Education Consultant and Creative currently residing in Albemarle County, VA. She is married to her friend and partner, Will Jones, III, and a mama/parental to 5 kiddos. Her most prominent professional work in this season is utilizing her 12 years of experience as a working homeschool mom to walk you step-by-step through customizing a mindful education plan that brings your personal, professional and relational goals together with your desire for your child(ren)‘s academic success in light of COVID-19.

You can learn more about Yolonda on her website and can follow her on Instagram: @yolonda_j

30 Second Pitches

Interested in pitching your side project, a charity you’re involved with, a job alert, or your work for hire at our next CreativeMornings event?

We are inviting community members to participate in our next CreativeMornings event to pitch themselves, a project or an idea. And we’re giving you only 30 seconds to do it in front of our virtual audience! We’ll select four people to share their pitches after the sponsor recognition portion of the event. 

If you’re interested, fill out this short survey by this Wednesday, October 7th by 7pm.  We’ll reach out to you the next day to let you know if you’ve been selected for this round!

Need some ideas of how long a 30 second pitch is? Here’s a video from the NYC chapter.