Student Impression: Create-It Kit March 2021 Edition

With only five weeks left of school and our next short break a week away, things are starting to pile up. Relaxation and breaks from schoolwork are crucial to prevent burnout when we are so close to the end. If a short and straightforward art break interests you, then then the Colby Museum’s Create-It Kit is just what you need.

March’s Create-It Kit was inspired by artists Wendy Red Star and Meleko Mokgosi. Red Star is a prominent Native American artist whose works criticize and highlight the idyllic depictions of Native Americans. She does this by adding annotations and lines with a red permanent marker on photos of Native American’s to indicate what details are missing from the story. Mokgosi also takes a very similar approach in his art by annotating museum labels to highlight their troublesome wording.

The March Create-It Kit connected these art methods with the current COVID-19 situation. It came with a pack of sharpies, a glue stick, a black sheet of paper, and three COVID-19-related photos. The goal was to add your own annotations to the three pictures provided using the markers. The black sheet served as a frame. The instructions were incredibly clear and easy to follow, making the experience all the more enjoyable.

When I first noticed the topic of this Create-It Kit, I was a bit skeptical. The idea of having to sit with my thoughts in relation to the pandemic is something that I have already been forced to do during time in quarantine, making me unenthusiastic to have to do it again. However, to my surprise, it was quite a freeing activity. Since the instructions were essentially “annotate whatever you want,” I was able to not only express my emotions but also add whatever silly doodles I felt like creating.

It slowly became a very mindless activity, which was a stark difference from mind-consuming school work. My only critique of this kit is the inclusion of the black piece of paper. While it did provide a nice barrier to prevent the sharpie from bleeding through, it did seem somewhat unnecessary in the end. 

Overall, I had significantly more fun with this kit than I initially expected. I highly recommend that you go to the museum and grab a kit yourself. The next kit will be available on April 15. 

~Tanvi Iyer `22