Event allows people to decorate Hanes Art Center walls

People of all ages had the chance to ink the walls of Hanes Art Center this week.

At a series of participatory group meetings, the Sumi Ink Club invited people to paint freely in a sectioned wall space in order to gain a peace of mind.

The club, which hosts community art projects, was started in 2005 by Los Angeles-based artists Sarah Rara and Luke Fischbeck, was welcomed into the John and June Allcott Gallery at the Hanes Art Center this week.

The meetings were held on Tuesday and Wednesday, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and noon to 3 p.m., respectively.

The Sumi Ink Club provided the ink and brushes to simplify the materials and rules for participants, Fischbeck said.

“This simple, fluid model keeps the community going,” Fischbeck said.

A reception for the finished artwork alongside photos documenting the two-day process will be held Thursday evening at the Allcott Gallery.

Fischbeck said he and Rara originally started the ink club in Providence, R.I., as a way to meet their neighbors.

“The social aspect is the most important — it’s an engaged way to get art out of people,” Rara said.

“By working on a certain area, people get closer together, which generates conversation.”

Sumi Ink Club has inspired others to start their own ink clubs around the world — including Ireland, Japan, India, Saudi Arabia and Germany.

But this is the club’s first time in North Carolina — members were invited by assistant art professor Jina Valentine.

Valentine said she met Fischbeck in Philadelphia when he and Rara worked as a duo in a dance group called “Lucky Dragons.”

“I invited the Sumi Ink Club to democratize drawing and the gallery experience,” Valentine said.

Students, faculty and members of the community were welcomed into the gallery to paint geometric shapes and to add to existing drawings.

“I asked all the art professors to bring their classes into the gallery and paint,” Valentine said.

“Hopefully they will feel more welcome here, welcome to participate and open the gallery up to the larger UNC community.”

Valentine, who had never before painted with Sumi Ink, brought her art class to the gallery because she said drawing with the group is a relaxing community experience.

“I believe that everyone is an artist and everyone can make art,” she said.

Senior art major Joseph Amodei said that he appreciated Sumi Ink Club’s collaboration and participation beyond a traditional artist dichotomy.

“This is a special moment to make something in a space that is normally reserved for presentation,” he said.

arts@dailytarheel.com