As students walked into the Moyer Hall Lounge, they were greeted by music ranging from rap to indie alternative.

On one side of the lounge was a table filled with people using painting with watercolors on small pieces of paper. On the other side, people were using markers to turn old texts into revamped works of art in a process called “Black Out Poetry.”

Lingua’s Autumn Hangout last Wednesday, Nov. 14, in the Moyer Lounge was brimming with artistry in a laid-back event that was different from many of their past events, focusing more on the community aspect of art.

“We wanted to put on some smaller events that were more laid back,” Stevie Shao, Lingua’s Illustrator and Media Manager, said.

Shao expressed Lingua’s reasoning for this new type of event.

“Sometimes I think at those bigger launch events if there’s not something for people to do they feel uncomfortable,” Shao continued.

This is the exact reason why they decided to put on a smaller hangout event that would provide a space for people to express themselves through talking to other creative people and painting with watercolor or blackout poetry.

The event also had snacks available upon walking up to the Moyer lounge including apple cider, cheese, crackers, brownies and carrots.

According to Madeline McDonald, Lingua’s Music and Event Coordinator, “I set up the snacks in a way to create an intimate wine and cheese party, except for it’s apple cider.”

Lingua’s Autumn Hangout event was created by Lingua staff in order to make people feel like they can have a relaxing time while engaging with other artists.

This mission is best seen through how the current staff of Lingua came together.  

Such is the case with Claire Lehnert, Lingua’s Designer, who was interested in Lingua when her sister would bring home Lingua’s art journals.

Lehnert described her reaction to Lingua’s events when she first began going to them:

“It was really fun and a wonderful part of the art community,” Lehnert stated.

Many members of Lingua also stressed their plans for the future.

Their intentions are to focus more on smaller events and also partner with other organizations on campus to create new events, according to Lingua’s Editor, Geneva Lehnert.

McDonald also stated how in the future she wanted to have more events that would incorporate live music into these more laid-back events.

Whether it is the shift to smaller hangout events or the larger launch parties, it is clear Lingua is trying to engage Seattle Pacific University’s art crowd.

“I hope for our next release parties [that] they help Lingua get out to new people on campus,” McDonald said.

McDonald also hoped that events like these would, “have underclassmen see this and want to be a part of [Lingua] in the next years and keep it going.”Lingua will publish an art journal in January and May of 2019. If you are interested in submitting work to Lingua for their January journal, please email your work to [email protected] by December 7th.