Caution, & Mayhem, & Fashion, Oh My! Art With Liz Night Returns to West Valley

By Avi Vieira Glendale It was creative pandemonium at West Valley one•n•ten this week, with youth scrambling for art materials and working together to pull off their own line of couture to impress a panel of judges. Art Night With Liz returned to our group, with our Lieutenant Commander, and in-house creative genius Liz Martin commanding the night. Inspired by crepe paper dress works found on Instagram, Liz introduced the activity of the evening – using paper crafts supplies such as wrapping paper, colored tissue paper, and construction paper, the youth would compete in teams to design an outfit that would be modeled and judged by staff and volunteers in a runway fashion show at the end of the evening. With 30 minutes on the clock and the youth broken into five teams, the activity began with a mad dash for additional supplies such as ribbon, glitter, and an assortment of other crafts items that were up for grabs on a first come, first served basis. Volunteers and staff patrolled Tim Gunn-style, asking teams about the concepts behind their designs and reminding them of the time to complete their new spring fashion. Teams were encouraged to barter crafts supplies between each other to enhance their outfits. Many different concepts began to emerge by the different teams, ranging from the political, to historical, colorful, and playful. As the design and construction phase of the activity came to a close, fashion models and team leaders prepared for the runway show, with team leaders introducing the inspiration and message of the outfit. Judges were challenged with tough competition because of the creativity of all the teams, but eventually awarded prizes to winning teams in two categories: Best Outfit, and Best Use of Paper. Feedback from the youth of the night was positive, with many requests to make this activity a recurring one as it allowed for creativity, expression, friendly competition, teamwork, and cooperation, all concepts we love to foster in all our LGBTQ youth.