The Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA) is offering a creative way to help ease stress associated with upcoming exams.

As part of the new MIWSFPA Wellness Series, a zine- and button-making workshop is being hosted at Brock’s main campus on Wednesday, Dec. 12.

Workshop facilitator Christine Cucciniello will host the drop-in session in the Matheson Learning Commons of the James A. Gibson Library.

The event will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and everyone is welcome to attend.

Workshop facilitator Christine Cucciniello, left, helping Catherine Parayre, Director of the Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture, and Lesley Bell (BA ’88), former Learning Commons Co-ordinator at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, in the creation of their own zines.

MIWSFPA Director Elizabeth Vlossak said the initiative promotes mental wellness and brings a taste of the events happening at the Walker School up to main campus.

“I participated in the last zine-making workshop that Christine hosted as part of our Walker Cultural Leaders Series and found the exercise to be fun and extremely therapeutic,” said Vlossak. “Christine’s style is very inclusive to everyone on campus — with or without an artistic background — so we’re encouraging everyone to de-stress and get creative with us.”

Attendees can combine various materials to make their own creation during the session. There will also be holiday-themed items on hand for those who want to make a few last-minute Christmas gifts or decorations.

Cucciniello is a multimedia artist, photographer and former Outreach and Spoken Word Co-ordinator at CFBU Brock Radio.  

Her work challenges dominant modes of production and representation as it relates to media and art and she is passionate about bringing people together through community building and collective art projects.

“I enjoy hosting zine workshops because they allow for the creation of a unique piece of self-expression,” said Cucciniello. “Zines, hand-made and self-published, are an incredibly powerful method of sharing stories and communicating ideas not covered in mainstream media.”

The workshop will kick off a series of similar events happening both on Brock’s main campus and at the MIWSFPA in downtown St. Catharines.

The next event will take place Jan. 16 with Brock Kinesiology student Chance Mutuku joining members of the MIWSFPA and local community health and wellness groups in a discussion about the positive mental benefits of engaging in the arts. The presenters will also touch on the accessibility of the arts to everyone — even those who don’t consider themselves to be artists. Interactive demonstrations will take place during the event, held in the MIWSFPA Theatre, and a free lunch will follow.

Next week’s zine- and button-making workshop will be held in room ST231 in the Learning Commons hallway.

All materials are included and there is no cost to participate.

More information is available on ExperienceBU.

Updates on upcoming events will soon be available on the Wellness Series web page.