Mask-Making Workshop at El Batey

Saturday, May 18, 2024, 3:30-4:30, ages 6 and up

Mask-Making Workshop at El Batey, 175 Rano St, Buffalo, NY 14207

Multinational Illumination Arts will conduct workshops at the El Batey Puerto Rican Center located in the Black Rock neighborhood. The workshops will explore the traditional approach of mentorship and generational exchange that passes a skill from parent to child through siblings and extended family members. Instructors Deborah Canales and Benjamin Cirino will teach traditional vejigante mask-making techniques in a safe and accessible way. The workshop will include a demonstration of traditional vejigante mask-making tools, techniques, and materials as well as a discussion of how artists choose the characters to create with the masks. Participants will engage in brainstorming and idea development towards creating a vejigante character and design of their own while also trying various carving techniques using soap and safe tools.