Stress Relief Paint Night

As engineering graduate students at the University of Pennsylvania, we spend our days working with hard numbers, algorithms, scientific equipment, and biological cultures, looking for answers to tough questions.  Sometimes, a break from research can be very valuable, and so we helped AWE host a Stress Relief Paint Night, where graduate students could come and exercise their creative, artistic sides, and do some work that doesn't have an answer at all, much less a right one.

 We provided canvases, paint, and lots of paintbrushes. For those who needed a little artistic inspiration, we projected a short video walk-through of how to create a simple acrylic painting for people to follow along. Some attendees surprised us with their advanced painting skills! There were lots of unique paintings in all sorts of styles: realism, impressionism, even some (perhaps unintentional) abstract expressionism. Everyone seemed to bond over their painting successes and "happy accidents." The paint night was a great way to relieve stress, relax, and socialize with grad students from departments other than our own.

We also got lots of positive feedback from attendees!
One told us "I really appreciate such a wonderful night! I posted my photos on social networks and received a lot of compliments!"
Another shared: "It was tremendous fun!"  And: "It's a great event!!!!!  Love it!!!"

This was an incredibly popular event, and we had over 100 women express interest in attending!  We plan to host another grad paint night in the Spring semester, in addition to the many other events AWE puts on.