School of the Arts Leadership hosted Happy Little Accidents, a Bob Ross painting tutorial party, at the Stone Lodge on March 11.
The Leadership committee chose a painting party during National Craft month to allow students and faculty the opportunity for expression free of pressure.
Kiya Williams, president of the organization, said, “We’re literally struggling, it’s fine. Make a mistake, make it look pretty, make it whatever you’re currently expressing on the canvas. It’s a happy little accident. There’s no mistakes right now, we have a lot of other things to be rough on, but not this painting.”
Attendees picked their seats as they entered the Lodge, which was already stocked with a canvas, paint brushes and different paint colors.
Once the majority of the seats filled, Bob Ross started his tutorial on the main projector. This particular tutorial started with attendees painting the sky, followed by a mountain, then filling in most of the canvas with trees.
Ross wasted no time in his tutorial, so attendees had to ask a couple times for the video to be paused while they caught up. Students were laughing, sharing resources and comparing their canvases throughout the entire event.
Although attendees mentioned some slight levels of stress because of Ross’ advanced technique, the event proved to be a light-hearted, relaxing night of painting for those who attended.
“Even though my stuff doesn’t look like the video, and it’s actually really hard to follow a Bob Ross tutorial, I wanted to come because I enjoy art,” said Courtney Lyons, a freshman attending the event.
The leadership committee wanted to reiterate that anyone can join School of the Arts Student Leaders, even if you are not majoring in any form of art. Freshman Vee Lewis is actually a Mass Communications major, and she invites other students from different majors to join the organization.
President Williams wanted to give one final piece of advice for fellow students, saying, “Relax. Don’t stress out, there’s other things to stress out about in the world, so finals should be last on the list. We’re going to make it through this semester, and you’re going to pass your classes.”
