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The IAAA received a project grant from the Alabama Arts Council, which helped fund a 3-day retreat for members in May 2025. This retreat was designed to foster a sense of belonging within the organization, and to inspire its members to volunteer their time and energies in furthering the objectives laid out for the IAAA, benefiting its members and the local community.
Summary of Activities
Summary of Activities
The 3-day Retreat was jam-packed with engaging and fruitful activities that helped contribute to the objectives and intended outcomes. These included:
Mural Design & Mural Painting
Mandala Workshop
Clay “Canvas” Carving Workshop
Clay Bowl Workshop
Art Business Workshop
Group Discussions, Dinner and LOTS OF FUN!!
Next Steps
Next Steps
The following themes came out of the Retreat as next steps for IAAA:
Being part of IAAA gives the members an exclusive access to a group of people which are Indians and also artists, a combination not frequently found in US , so IAAA should focus more on building these personal connections and sense of community among its members
Members feel a sense of pride in being part of this community so continue supporting its members in terms of opportunities like the art retreat and more such opportunities
Have a good looking website that highlights members works should be a top priority since our members are spread across the country
Creating more in-person events will help create the sense of belonging wherever possible
Though the clay carving workshop was a different and new experience for many of the artists, all of them remember positive memories from being able to connect with each other through a new art form! Just one example of this is how Anjali Shroff noted “Having never worked with clay before, I found it incredibly rewarding to explore a new medium!”
The Create your own Mandala Art workshop was a memorable part of the retreat, in the sense that many artists found the process peaceful and calming. The group activity was led by Sujata, who assisted the artists with the new experience, some of the artists were also not used to this specific art form, which made for a fun group project!
The mural, arguably the biggest project that was worked on during the retreat, was a collection of all the artist's individual styles combined into one. The group was eager to do this project that would be donated to the local museum, TVMA. Many of the artists stated that this project brought them closer together with all the time spent on it.
The Clay Bowl workshop was also a new experience for most of the artists, as clay was a new medium that many had not tried before.
While the activity resulted in multiple special clay pieces, the group also used this activity as a bonding exercise for all of them.
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