EDUCATOR
Many years ago I once stood at the door to a long classroom at Barcroft Elementary School, files in hand. I knocked on the open door. A woman sat near the windows at the far end, her back to me.
“Yes?” she said, without turning.
“I’d like to apply to teach here during intersession,” I said.
She turned. She was Asian. “You’re on!” she said.
”I am?” I was surprised.
”Yes!” She got up and started to walk up to me.
”How?” I asked.
”Nobody who looks like you has ever wanted to teach here.” She said, looking at me with a smile.
Check out my Projects, & Classes and Workshops below.
CLASSES & WORKSHOPS
I have taught book arts at Glen Echo Park, Montpelier Art Center; memoir writing and book arts at Iona Senior Services; creative explorations of bookmaking, painting with acrylics, artful practice, and South Asian calligraphy as a studio arts instructor for Smithsonian Associates; Art PAUSE for adults with disabilities; community engagement for Arlington Cultural Affairs; and bookmaking for senior citizens.
Each course is unique, as it is based in my own 20-year art practice.
Pick a class that might work for your participants, students, organization. If you need a special class designed for your group let me know.
2026 CLASSES:
Artful Mind, Tranquil Mind
Artists throughout the world and the centuries have developed practices that allow them to center themselves and prepare for making art. The same techniques can be helpful in everyday life as well, offering calm and the joy from playful artmaking.
Combining exercises from her study of Asian art as a docent at the National Museum of Asian Art, her own art and bookmaking practice, Sushmita will guide students in this pause exploring mark-making with lines and swirls and playing with various kinds of paper. No experience with art making is necessary! You will leave with techniques that will help you find a spot of calm anywhere, anytime.
No previous experience needed!
6 Sessions
90 minutes each
Virtual or in-person
Let’s Tell Our Tales: Personal Storybooks
Created to celebrate the exhibit “Making My Voice Visible: The Early Years of Handmade Storybooks by artist Sushmita Mazumdar”, Sushmita created Let’s Tell Our Tales so participants can tell their stories as they fill three unique handmade books with original art and writing.
Each book, inspired by one of Sushmita’s, presents an opportunity to work with different techniques and media, from paper-cutting and 3-D structures to color pencils on pastel paper, Chinese ink and brush, and collage. Weekly themes for book forms and writings include inspiring structures, single words that suggest a story, and creating a container for memories.
All materials provided.
I will be teaching a free workshop on Jan 24, 10:30 - 12 at Cherrydale Library where the exhibit is. A reception will follow.
No previous experience needed!
3 Sessions
DATE: Saturdays Jan 10, 17, and 31
TIME: 10:30 am - 12:00 pm
In-person
PROJECTS
Above: Three generations at Asian Heritage Month family bookmaking event with Sushmita, Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Photo by Sandra Vuong.
Family Memory Storybooks
Dates: 2008-2015
Client: Smithsonian Learning, Washington DC
Videos, instructions sheets, and books made by kids!
A few years ago I created many bookmaking activities for families for the Smithsonian’s Heritage Month programs. The idea was to get families talking, creating, and sharing stories on so many subjects. Click on the link in the title and see the videos, download the instruction sheets, and upload your own books to the website—a wonderful resource for families, teachers, and communities.
Check out some wonderful photos from our Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2011 Bookmaking activity “Kitchen Stories” here.
Above: A Family Story by a student of Mt Vernon Elementary School, Alexandria, VA
Family Legends of Alexandria
Dates: 2011-2019
Client: Living Legends of Alexandria, Alexandria VA
When Nina Tisara, founder of Living Legends of Alexandria, and I were speaking to graduates of EWI‘s Entrepreneurship Training for Success program, we talked about collaborations. Nina came up with an example of how she and I could work together. Right after, we did talk about just such a collaboration! Living Legends documents stories of community “legends” through photos and interviews, and I work with children encouraging them to interview family members and find “legends” in their families and make the story into a handmade book.
Read all about our 2015 Family Legends of Alexandria summer project with 240 ACPS students, here!
You can also see a video about the project here.
Above: My Handmade Storybook Mangli The Very Special Goat gets some Spanish translation for a bilingual workshop with students and their caregivers, Raymond Elementary, Washington DC
Author-Book Artist Visits
Dates: 2013-2017
Client: Turning the Page, Washington DC
In a unique collaboration, Washington DC-based organization Turning the Page commissioned me to make copies of my Handmade Storybooks which would be given to families at author visits. I made 150 copies of one, 75 of another and taught the students’ caregivers to make them too and write their own stories in them. “Because you should never have to say you don’t have a book to read to your child,” I said, and they all agreed. Over the years I worked in so many of the schools they partnered with it was amazing for me to learn about school-family-org communities.
Hand, Paper, Go!
A Creative Exploration of Bookmaking
Arts Enterprise Institute, Arlington Arts:
Dates: May 4 & May 11, 2021
Time: Two - 2-hour workshops. - 11:00am - 1:00pm
Location: Online
Book artist Sushmita Mazumdar guides students in an exploration of the many creative ways to work with paper and make fun personal storybooks by hand while learning some history from around the world and listening to stories of what inspired her to create. No experience necessary and good for artists and those who don’t think they are artists too.
Artful Mind - Explore Creativity & Celebrate Community
Arts Enterprise Institute, Arlington Arts:
Dates: Thu, April 1, 14, 21, 28, 2021
Time: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT
Location: Online
Artists throughout the world and the centuries have developed practices that allow them to center themselves and prepare for making art. The same techniques can be helpful in everyday life as well, offering calm and the joy from playful artmaking. Combining exercises from her art and bookmaking practice, instructor Sushmita Mazumdar will guide students in this lunch time pause exploring mark-making with lines and swirls and playing with various kinds of paper. No experience with art making is necessary! You may pick one session that catches your fancy or join us for all four sessions. No matter which one you attend you will leave with techniques that will help you find a spot of calm anywhere, anytime.
Community Engagement for Artists
Arts Enterprise Institute, Arlington Arts:
Dates: March 2, 2021
Time: 11:00 pm - 1:00 pm ET
Location: Online
Community Engagement for Artists
In this workshop, artists and arts organizations receive an overview of ways to engage with the community they serve. Instructor Sushmita Mazumdar will share her experiences with community art projects she has facilitated and observed, so participants can learn how to use art to achieve long-term outcomes, try our new processes, and build relationships.