Social Justice Art-Making Workshop at the Honan-Allston Library

Calling Allston residents! Take action in your community through a collaborative mug-making project with Allston artist Gustavo Barceloni. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn an easy printmaking activity to reflect on stories and symbols of Allston using ink and paper to create a take-home souvenir. Then you’ll have a short one-on-one conversation with Gustavo about your history with Allston and aspirations for its future. He’ll guide you in how to set your intention for positive change by pushing mark-making tools into clay slabs. In his studio, Gustavo will transform your stamped clay into a ceramic mug for his exhibition A People’s History of Allston at the Harvard Ed Portal this summer.

Participants are then invited to celebrate their contributions at the exhibition reception on June 8 and can collect and keep their mug when the exhibition ends in mid-September. No previous experience required. No previous experience required. Open to all ages however children under 18 years old must bring an adult to participate in the 15 minute interview portion of the workshop. Conversations will be audio recorded for the artist's use and participants will be asked to sign a media waiver.

A People’s History of Allston is a mug-making project where neighbors share their stories, record them in clay, and pledge to take action on local issues.

The collection of community-generated artwork will be exhibited in A People’s History of Allston at the Harvard Ed Portal’s Crossings Gallery, June 6-Sept 14, 2023. 

Gustavo Taveres Barceloni was born in Brazil and raised in Greater Boston. He holds a BFA in ceramics from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and a M.Ed from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. In 2022, Gustavo was a participant in the Harvard Ed Portal’s inaugural artist pipeline program and an instructor at the Ceramics Program, Office for the Arts at Harvard.

Gustavo creates illustrative tableware, installations, and community based projects that promote working class power and explores the complexities of the Brazilian diaspora. As a ceramics teacher and museum educator, he is dedicated to teaching art as rest, reflection, and resistance.

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