by John Gingrich

As I write this, my four month internship at Make Studio is drawing to a close. Simply put, my time here felt like a blessing. Being a senior painting major at MICA and a professional muralist on the side (represented by the images, below), these past few months have been very busy. Coming to Make Studio every Tuesday and Thursday, I was always welcomed with smiles and interesting conversations. I was honored to witness new works manifest by the program artists there every week.

I began to appreciate my time at Make Studio more and more as the semester progressed. The relaxed atmosphere that the artists and staff maintain became a refuge from the hustle and bustle of my school schedule. I got to spend lots of time working on interesting projects, like fabricating a large illuminated float for Patterson Park’s annual lantern parade. Some days were more laid-back, allowing a little time to spend journaling in my sketchbook.

The thing I would look forward to most everyday when biking to the studio was catching up with each artist, talking about his or her work. The friendly and artistic connections I have made with the artists at Make Studio are what I will continue to value most as I think about my time spent here.

Make Studio’s artists, the staff, and I are excited about a cool project we are contemplating for spring 2017 – a mural collaboration. I am honored for the opportunity to apply my painting experience in this way. Make Studio’s artists will be involved in every step of the creation of this piece, from the conception through the execution. I will simply act as a facilitator and technical advisor.

The pictures throughout this blog post are from a mural I painted with artists at Fili E Colori, an Art And Therapy Center in Florence, Italy this past spring. All the subject matter painted is derived from the Italian artists own original, beautiful artwork. Each character represents one of the artists at their center. With our collaboration, we are hoping to similarly create an inclusive piece of art that is representative of all the diversity and liveliness within the walls of Make Studio.

Thank you to all the wonderful people I have met and spent time with during this short period!

For more murals, visit johngingrich.net