By: Khalailah Bynoe
You don’t need to be a history major or an art student to find your inner classical artist. On Dec. 4 at the Brooklyn College (BC) Student Center, the BC Classical Society held a vase painting event. Many attendees came with friends to enjoy snacks and express themselves creatively.
“ So we’re related to the ancient classics like ancient Greece, ancient Rome, ancient Egypt, and then the Mediterranean world, they had vases. So this is an event inspired by that,” said the President of the BC Classical Society, Emma Bodzin.
“I think this is our second or third year doing vase painting, and it’s always like a big hit. […] It’s always […] fun to do vase painting, and it seems to be something everyone loves. And, you know, it just shows how important creativity is,” said Sabrena Hassan, club connector for the Classical Society.
Attendees were given an informational guide on the history of vases in ancient Greece.
Ancient Greeks used several vase types: amphoras for storage and transport, kraters for mixing wine at symposiums, skyphos for drinking, and lekythos for oils. Greek myths commonly decorated these vessels.
“The most famous ancient Greek pottery designs come from the Black Figure and Red Figure techniques. After a vase was made, designs were painted on with black and red Slip, a mixture of water and clay. These designs are either a red background with black figures or a black background with red figures,” according to the BC Classical Society.
“ Getting people to relax and rewind when they have, like, studying for finals, but also engaging in some classics-related activity. We share a lot of inspiration for Ancient Greek-inspired vases; they can copy if they’d like, or just express themselves in any way that they can,” said Vice President Khadijah Fall.
Some attendees took this opportunity to create a gift for their family members for the upcoming holidays.
“Since Christmas is coming up, I just wanted to make […] a little something for my mom because she […] loves flowers and she loves faces and stuff. Her favorite color is pink, so that’s what inspired my design or pattern,” attendee Shania Persaud told The Vanguard.
Others were introduced to the world of vase painting by tagging along with their friends.
“My friend Shania invited me, and I wanted to hang, and vase painting sounds fun. Now I have a vase. [I] actually brought a flower the other day and it died because I didn’t have a vase, so now I do,” said BC student Thomas Balotska.
With finals season in full swing, vase painting was just what many needed to relax.
“[This] is a good stress reliever […] before finals and final papers and projects,” said BC student Libby Trietel.
Fall hopes that these events shed more light on the Classics Department.
“It’s also a way to get a lot of students who might not have ever heard of the Classics Department at Brooklyn College, which is kind of a small department in comparison to a lot of other ones. Kind of get them introduced in a way to little aspects and get them to appreciate classics more because, despite it see[m]ing maybe not as related to other fields. It definitely is a topic that can help a lot [of] people in a variety of different majors and interests.”
The Classical Society offers multiple events for students to combine creativity with a new knowledge of the classical world, including their end-of-semester Saturnalia event. “Saturnalia was basically what became Christmas in ancient Rome […], and we’re gonna be decorating Wreaths,” Bodzin told The Vanguard.
The BC Classical Society is open to all.
Bodzin stated, “Anyone can join, you don’t have to be a classics major. You don’t have to be a history nerd. You just join [and] have fun. We always have many events throughout the semester.”
For more about BC Classical Society’s upcoming events, visit their Instagram @bc_classicalsociety.