As the spring semester gets into full swing and students adjust back into academic routines following the recent snow days, many are seeking ways to step away from screens and coursework. Across campus, students have shown an increasing interest in active hobbies and hands-on creative activities to relieve stress instead of consuming digital content.
Wednesday, Jan. 28, the Muscarelle Museum of Art followed this trend and hosted “Art After Hours: Abstract Watercolor Monotypes and Stranger Things.” The event was a three-hour immersive workshop designed for students at the College of William and Mary not pursuing a studio art major. The event invited undergraduate and graduate students of other majors to engage directly with abstract art through guided discussion and printmaking.
Steve Prince, Director of Engagement and Distinguished Artist in Residence at the Muscarelle Museum of Art, led the workshop, which was part of a broader initiative to make creative spaces more accessible to students across academic backgrounds.
“We got funding from the Estes family so that we can create a series of classes for non-art students,” Prince said. “The impetus of it is to show and reveal the importance of the arts in our everyday lives.”
Prince emphasized that the goal of the program was to foster a low-pressure environment.
“This is not designed to turn everyone into artists,” Prince said. “It’s about creating a safe space for people to allow themselves to think creatively and to do something that is very different from what they’ve done in their academic career.”
Ava Passehl ’26 described the workshop as a change of pace from her regular academic routine.
“I learned a lot from the museum tour, and I think it was a good stress reliever from my traditional coursework,” Passehl said.
The evening began with extended introductions, during which Prince asked students about their backgrounds, interests and reasons for attending. Prince said these conversations were intentional, aimed at fostering connection before engaging with the artwork.
“By creating a space like this, I’m not looking at you through the lens of your ethnic background,” Prince said. “I’m looking at you because you’re a human being. A creative human being. You come from someplace.”
Prince said understanding students as individuals was uniquely important.
“That’s why I asked all the students, where are you from? What’s your origin? What are you here for? What are you doing? What are you learning? Who are your friends?” Prince said. “I want to know all of them, because that’s what true community building is all about.”
Following the introductions, participants toured the museum’s newly opened exhibition, “Abstract Expressionists: The Women.” Prince guided students through the gallery, discussing abstract expressionism and encouraging students to engage with the work without the expectation of technical expertise.
Passehl said the tour helped reframe how she viewed abstract art.
“We learned how to read abstract art and not to just see it as dots on a page, and then we created our own art with a printmaker,” Passehl said.
Prince said abstraction can often feel intimidating to those unfamiliar with art history, making hands-on engagement especially important.
“My idea was to try to get people to understand a little bit more, and be a little bit more sensitive to the arts,” Prince said.
After the gallery tour, students transitioned into the printmaking portion of the workshop. Prince demonstrated acrylic watercolor monotype techniques, guiding participants through cutting, layering and pressing color onto new paper. The process emphasized experimentation and visual decision-making.
“I chose this particular medium because I thought it lent itself very well with the new exhibition that opened up, which is women and abstraction,” Prince said. “I was trying to make sure that I did a program that was directly alignable with what’s on display at the museum.”
Passehl said the workshop paralleled broader cultural shifts toward creative production and physical hobbies.
“I’m trying to do the ‘create more than you consume’ trend, which is obviously a social media trend, and I consumed that, but I’m trying to get better at it,” Passehl said. “I think that people have always had physical hobbies; it just has become more popular and more cool to have them.”
Prince said the Muscarelle aims to function as more than a traditional museum space.
“I don’t want the museum to just be a space where we look at the art,” Prince said. “It’s also a space where we can make art, and also about the community.”
He emphasized collaboration as central to the museum’s programming.
“It’s about coming together and making together,” Prince said. “That’s what I’m always trying to facilitate.”
Prince said the Art After Hours program has grown steadily since its inception. He added that the workshops attract a diverse demographic of students.
“I’m trying to create a space where students can come, and they’ll be able to take a break from the monotony of their lives,” Prince said. “I’m getting athletes that are coming here doing these workshops, and getting people who are in the [College of William and Mary] Law School, the [Raymond A. Mason School of Business], grad students [and] undergrad students. It’s open for all of them.”
Prince connected the museum’s new approach of collaborative, inclusive programming to his own philosophy about creating art.
“One thing that I’ve been trying to do with my artwork is, in essence, create a semblance of the kitchen table,” Prince said. “If I can create more spaces where we come into the kitchen, we break bread together, we make art together, we share stories together, we grow together, then I think that we can do things in this creative space that counteract the destruction we see all around us in this world.”
Prince said art has long been a tool for addressing social harm.
“That destruction we’re seeing with what’s happening across our nation, people of immigrant populations are being scooped up,” Prince said. “How can we use our imagination and our creativity? How can we use those voices, and cry out for those who are disenfranchised?”
Prince spoke further on the importance of art as activism.
“That’s what art has done for centuries,” Prince said. “Art has enabled us to speak for those who have been dispossessed, those who have been pushed to recesses.”
Prince said creative expression carries lasting significance, and its influence cannot be ignored.
“It is helping us to remember, to remember,” Prince said. “That’s the power of the artist.”
These are the messages Prince and the museum hope to share with more students through programs like Art After Hours.
For students like Passehl, participating in the workshop made the museum feel more approachable.
“Museums can be intimidating to a lot of students,” Passehl said. “But I think that if you go into it with the lens of, ‘I’m here to learn something new,’ or ‘I’m here to create something alongside what’s already here,’ I think that can really empower people.”
This mindset is what Prince felt was central to the workshop’s purpose.
“Let’s do this together,” Prince said. “That’s the kind of spirit that is going to change things in this world.”
Prince said he hopes this space the museum has been creating will extend beyond the workshop itself.
“That’s what I want to deposit, because I have the ability to leave something that has the potential to outlive me,” Prince said. “That’s what we have.”
