On Saturday Feb. 2, the staff of the Longwood Landings apartments transformed the Lankford Student Union ballroom from a regular room into a painter’s paradise. Three large canvases laid on a tarp of painter’s plastic, which covered roughly half of the room. From noon to 6 p.m., almost a hun- dred students made their way to the Student Union throughout the span of the six hours.
Daniel Sweid, a Resident Assistant (RA) at the Landings, said, “This is the first time we’ve done [Campus to Canvas]. Now every year, RAs from each staff have a campus wide program, but this is the first time we’ve done this. I would say around 100 people will show up.”
To participate in the event, all students had to do was simply show up. There was no preregistration involved, even if you were one of the one hundred and seventeen people who said that they would be there on the Facebook page for the event.
Of course, there were three rules those partaking in the event would have to follow. Nothing too severe, just making sure to stay on the covered hard- wood floors in case paint somehow got onto your feet, making sure not to paint anything that could be construed as too obscene or inappropriate (no male genitalia for example) and to be careful not to cover up any of the other artists’ work. Do unto others what you would like done to yourself.
“My team mate Emily is an RA and she told me about [the event]. I thought it’d be fun, so I came. I love painting so this was a great event,” said Ally Hauver, a junior biology major and member of the women’s rugby team.
When students showed up, they instantly became eligible for a raffle ticket. They became eligible for two more by painting whatever they wanted (with- in reason) on the provided canvas in a region that consisted of the width of both of the artist’s palms and for filling out a survey at the end. The items being raffled off included a couple of Tervis tumblers with the Longwood logo on them, a $10 Barnes and Noble gift card, several Vera Bradley wallets, movie passes and two $10 Macado’s gift certificates. If the student won one of the prizes, they would be con- tacted by one of the RAs at the event via email.
Throughout the event, music was constantly being aired through the room and at one point there was even a ukulele player who led those in attendance in a rousing rendition of “F.U.N.” from the cartoon “Spongebob Squarepants,” in honor of World Uku- lele Day. But, as with every first time event, there’s always room for improvement.
“[I would suggest] more canvases,” said junior Kelly Baer, “because [I had been told] that there were only three of them and there was not more, and on Facebook, it says around 1,000 people were supposed to come, so I don’t think there are enough canvases. Even though it goes till six, I think the canvases will fill up before hand.”
Despite the lower numbers than what was pre- dicted on Facebook and some minor set backs (the irregular measuring system being one), the event seemed to be a big hit for everyone who came to check it out. Of course, the unmistakable lure for the possibility of free stuff could not have hurt ei- ther, now could it?
A special thanks to the RAs of the Landings for putting on this event and for giving up six hours of their Saturday to do so.
Over 100 students participated in the event hosted by RAs.
Students express their creativity in many ways on the canvas
