Rowan After Hours (RAH) celebrated its 10th birthday last Friday by commemorating some of its most popular programs. The Student Center Pit was packed with casino games, a mechanical bull and masseuses. For the night’s DIY event, three different activities were available: play-dough mixed from shampoo and corn flour, tile art and whiteboards made from re-purposed picture frames.

Freshman studio art major Jada Price was among those excited to try all that the DIY station had to offer.

“I’m mainly excited for the tile art because I like to do art things, and I am an art nerd,” Price said.  “I’m trying to figure out how to mix [the play-dough] together. It’s like a science experiment.”

Price’s love of art, however, does not necessarily mean that she makes a habit of frequenting RAH just for the sake of participating in DIY.

“I usually pick and choose when to come to RAH,” she explained. “I usually come at the beginning of the semester because I just start getting even more tired than I usually am.”

Making the tile art involved drawing any pattern of the artist’s choosing onto a ceramic tile with Sharpie markers. Once satisfied with the design, participants would then drip isopropyl alcohol from a pipette onto the tile, where the design would smear. By dripping and smearing the ink, participants could end up with tiles which displayed a watercolor effect. 

Sophomores radio, television and film major Treasure Cary and communication studies major Nalik Johnson, meanwhile, were busy working on their picture frame whiteboards.

“[RAH tonight] is enjoyable, relaxing, calming,” Cary said, covering her frame with white paint. “I’m going for an avant-garde look, distressed. I’m going to put some flowers on it to represent my emotions. It’s Paris in the springtime.”

Johnson, meanwhile, worked on a tile that displayed his first name.

“I’m just trying to enjoy the money that I spend here to go to this college,” Johnson said. “I spend thousands of dollars so anything free, and anything nice, I just want to enjoy my time here, enjoy my four years, and graduate. My friends dragged me here. I’m not really an arts and crafts kind of person, but it’s free so it’s for me.”

The Midnight Food Bar served ice cream to those who stayed until or showed up by 11:30 p.m. This event was just one of several celebrating RAH’s ten year anniversary weekend.

Featured image by Nicole Mingo.

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