Artist IBé Crawley infront of her studio IBé Arts Institute during an Oakwood Arts staff visit.
Photography + Book Making Workshop
For 7th - 12th graders
In Collaboration With Ibé Arts Institute, This Workshop Invites Five Middle And High School Students To Explore The Art Of Storytelling Through Photography And Bookmaking. Together, We’ll Document And Archive Stories From Our Everyday Environments, Learning How To Translate Personal Experiences Into Visual Narratives. Students Will Experiment With Sequencing, Image-Making, And Design To Create A Collaborative Book That Preserves Their Unique Perspectives And Community Stories. Program is Free- Lunch provided.
Led by Janelle Washington, the first two days of the program will start at the Oakwood Arts building where we will dive into narrative storytelling and story development via photography. Students will then shoot photos in the local community to illustrate their book and return to the building to draft text to accompany their photography. The remaining three days of the program will take place at IBé Arts Institute, where IBè Crawley will guide students on how to use concepts such as book structure, letter press, and binding to transform their work into a collaborative book.
Deadline to apply is May 25, 2026 at 5:00PM
Spaces are limited
Program is Free and Lunch will be provided
INSTRUCTORS
Janelle Washington
Janelle Washington is a Richmond, Virginia–based self-taught paper-cut and silhouette artist whose work uses paper to illuminate Black history, identity, family, and feminine beauty while honoring the resilience, struggles, and achievements of Black Americans. A VCU Fashion Design graduate, Janelle has created commissioned work for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, delivered VCU Arts’ 2022 commencement address, and earned the 2023 Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award for Choosing Brave. Her first author-illustrator book, Heart of the Home, was released in February of 2026.
IBè Bulinda H. Crawley
IBè Bulinda H. Crawley is a book artist, sculptor, educator, and lifelong storyteller whose work preserves and illuminates often-overlooked histories of Black women in Virginia. Trained in sewing by her mother and grandmothers, she later expanded her practice into stone and wood carving, papermaking, printmaking, and artist books. Through meticulous craftsmanship and deeply researched narratives, Crawley’s work confronts histories shaped by disenfranchisement, sexism, poverty, and resilience, as seen in her recent work Sho Creek (2024). She is also the founder of The IBè Arts Institute in Hopewell, Virginia, where her multidisciplinary body of work is housed.
FEATURED WORK
Janelle Washington, Home, 2019
Artist IBè Crawley in her studio IBè Arts Institute
Artist IBé Crawley in her studio IBé Arts Institute sharing one of her books.
