‘Air It Out’ was the culminating exhibition at the end of my final semester as the lead workshop facilitator for Madison Public Library’s Making Justice program. We explored screen printing, the Japanese string garden of Kokedama, and acrylic pour-painting (to name a few activities). Faisal Abdu’Allah tied the whole experience together through the lens of the FauHaus Project, which teaches pride and identity to youth of color in Madison and beyond. Perhaps one of the most meaningful components of this series was the act of sharing a meal together at the start of every class. Each week we explored a different cuisine from a different culture, exposing the kids to the world around them through one of the most enticing teachers of all. Food! Devon even cooked a whole African meal for us to preface his Kokedama workshop and to bring his lessons on food justice and agricultural activism to life. For the culmination, we sent word out to community centers around the city and they sent vanloads of kids to come join us in celebration. It was pretty special, and definitely the most teen-heavy youth gallery night I’ve hosted to-date.
