Open Experimental Studio by LSU College of Art & Design

Overview

LSU College of Art & Design invites the community to experiment, make, and connect alongside 2026 Open Experimental Studio resident artists Rachel Parish and Edem Dake throughout June in Glassell Gallery.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana—LSU College of Art & Design invites the community to experiment, make, and connect alongside 2026 Open Experimental Studio resident artists Rachel Parish and Edem Dake throughout June in Glassell Gallery. From June 2–26, the gallery will offer drop-in open studio space for visitors to experiment with their own projects, participate in special workshops, and collaborate with community on projects that will be facilitated by the artists.

The 2026 Open Experimental Studio invites participants of all ages into a series of hands-on workshops exploring memory, migration, material transformation, and connection through artmaking. Across clay, paper, photography, textiles, plants, and printmaking, the residents guide participants in creating personal and collective artifacts rooted in storytelling and sensory experience. Participants may map family histories, craft vessels from bodily forms, make paper from recycled clothing, blend botanical scents and teas, mend garments through embroidery, or create photographic traces of their presence using alternative processes. Designed as accessible, family-friendly experiences, these workshops emphasize collaboration, reflection, and experimentation while encouraging new relationships between memory, material, and community. All experience-levels are welcome.

The Open Experimental Studio seeks not only to activate the gallery but to activate creative experimentation. It offers visitors the opportunity to experiment with artmaking, community building, and contributing their own experiences and projects to the space. The Open Experimental Studio values process over product, experience over outcome, and communing over consuming. It seeks to create a supportive, open space for insightful material exploration through making that is open and welcoming to all.  

The 2026 Open Experimental Studio is supported by the Charles Lamar Family Foundation and the Windgate Foundation.

Drop-in Schedule

Rachel: Wednesday 12-5, Thursday 12-7, Saturday 12-5

Edem: Tuesday 12–5, Friday 12-7, Sunday 12-5