Rain showers may have forced Saint Xavier University’s neighborhood Paint Jam indoors Saturday, but they couldn’t wash away the excitement.
Inside the university’s Visual Arts Center, easels lined the room as children, parents and students dipped brushes into bright paint and filled blank canvases. Tables covered with paint, brushes and other supplies welcomed visitors to create at their own pace.
The free Paint Jam was held as part of a neighborhood block party at Saint Xavier University’s Visual Arts Center, 10435 S. Spaulding Ave. Although organizers planned to hold the event outdoors, rainy weather moved the activities inside, where neighbors continued painting throughout the afternoon.
The event was organized by students and faculty from the Visual Arts Center under the direction of Department Chair and Art Professor Nathan Peck.
Saint Xavier provided canvases, paint, brushes and aprons for participants. Some children carefully painted while others covered their artwork with colorful shapes and handprints. Art students moved throughout the room, helping young artists mix colors, offering guidance and sharing their experiences in the program.
The event gave neighborhood families a chance to meet Saint Xavier students and experience the Visual Arts Center, which many had never visited before.
The facility provides students with studios designed for drawing, painting, ceramics, woodworking, printmaking, photography, digital imaging, video and audio production, and laser cutting.
Peck said opening the center to the community is an important part of its purpose.
“This is more than an art building,” Peck said. “It’s a space for connection, and today, the whole neighborhood became part of it.”
By the end of the afternoon, the Visual Arts Center was filled with paintings created by neighbors of all ages. The rain changed the location, but the artwork showed the same result organizers hoped for: a community coming together through art.
