Sonoma State University is uniquely known for the sense of community that is shared around the campus. The small campus creates many opportunities for students to interact with their peers and form genuine connections and relationships. 

On Thurs. night, Feb. 24, The Hub and Student Involvement collaborated to host “Late Nite Art” in Ballroom A of the Student Center. This event was a part of the ongoing events for Sonoma State’s LoboFest and was hosted by artist, coach and founder of S.O.U.L. (School of Unconditional Love), Lotus Wong.

Wong stated in the very beginning of the event that although the title of the event suggested this was an art-focused program, it was actually a community-building workshop. The goal was to get students to interact and build relationships around activities that have to do with art. 

 When asked about what was their favorite part of the event, Sonoma State student Michaela Wang said, “I felt like people really stepped out of their comfort zone and showed a lot of bravery! I liked connecting with people I had never met before.”

The event setup consisted of a particularly long table with construction paper covering the entirety of it like a tablecloth. Placed on the table there were colored pencils, watercolors, and crayons available for students to use to draw on the table.  

To get the night started, Wong’s first activity was for students to share something they celebrate within their community or culture with the person in front of them. This was a great way to get the night going because students got to listen to how people celebrate things that they might not have known about before. To wrap up this activity, Wong instructed the group to take a colored pencil and write down on the paper-covered table what their intentions were for the night.

Another activity that proved to be impactful was when Wong instructed the group to move around the room and sit across from someone they didn’t know. Each pair of partners took turns telling each other a three-minute story about something that has recently changed them. Afterward, Wong told the group to draw a painting summarizing their partner’s story or something that they could remember from the story. Using the materials on the table the group turned into modern-day Picasso’s and got to work painting on the table. 

To wrap up the event, Wong asked everyone to get up from their seats and walk over to the hallway between the ballrooms. Once everyone walked over, Wong instructed everyone to form a big circle where everyone was going to take turns to share something they took away from the night. This was a very pleasant ending to the night because everyone got to share what they enjoyed the most about the workshop, helping to create a respectful campus community.

Wong had mentioned that this was the very first “Late Nite Art” event that she coordinated in-person in almost two years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior “Late Nite Art” events were hosted through Zoom. 

“I got used to it being on Zoom and how easy it was to set up. But now being in-person it was very different but a lot of fun. I enjoyed seeing all the students moving around and seeing all the joy in people was fulfilling,” said Wong.