Beyond Words: Touch Grass!
BIPOC Art Series
Winter 2026
Saturdays, 1-3pm
January 31, March 7
Open to: BIPOC Queen's students and community members
Free + in-person program + art packages provided
Beyond Words was created by BIPOC for BIPOC. Beyond Words aims to foster a safe and creative space centred in art healing for Queen’s University students and members of the Katarokwi-Kingston community who identify as Black, Indigenous, and people of colour. We will be using art as a tool for expression and discussion in order to help facilitate healing within our mind, body, and spirit. Art as healing is a growing movement that has a lot to offer to individuals working through emotions that can be difficult to put into words.
Beyond Words is made possible through the support of the Inclusive Community Fund.
Collage Workshop with Alyssa Vernon
Saturday, January 31
Union Gallery
1-3pm
ALYSSA VERNON
Alyssa Vernon (she/her), born in Hamilton, Ontario, is a Jamaican & Guyanese collage artist currently based in Kingston, Ontario. Alyssa is a passionate Black and queer teacher and learner who incorporates collage into educational spaces to blend creativity into learning, while imagining futures where everyone is free.
Alyssa works through her lived experiences whilst collaging, pulling from themes of Black girlhood, (un)belonging, queer liberation, and community; whilst reflecting on Black histories to help imagine liberatory Black futures. Through her collages, Alyssa intends for Black people, particularly Black women, to feel like their stories and experiences matter and have value, to feel represented and seen, and to promote healing and love.
Alyssa is also the Co-Founder and lead programmer of Queer Collage Collective (QCC). QCC is a queer-led, anti-oppressive arts collective for healing and the strengthening of mental health. Follow and get in touch with QCC to see the work Alyssa is up to currently: @queercollagecollectives.
QUEER COLLAGE COLLECTIVE (QCC)
QCC events are for healing, expression and the strengthening of mental health through creating art. They aim to provide an accountable space to facilitate anti-oppressive conversation.
Watercolour Flow with Melanie Gray
Saturday, January 25, 2025
Union Gallery
1-3pm
In the second session, Union Gallery is collaborating with registered art therapist Melanie Gray and Queen’s BIPOC Talk. We will be making jewelry to discuss home/land and how symbols and materials can help represent what home means to you.
MELANIE GRAY
Melanie graduated from Queen’s University in 2016 with a BAH in Art History and Indigenous Studies. She went on to complete her graduate program at the Toronto Art Therapy Institute where she graduated in 2018. Her thesis was titled The Ohén:ton Karihwatéhkwen Project: Introducing Art Therapy to Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory using the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address. As an Indigenous Art Therapist, Melanie continues to be grounded in her Haudenosaunee culture and uses this understanding in her art healing practice.
What to Expect
Beyond Words is an arts based public program that is centered around art healing with the intent to create a safe and creative space for Queen’s University students and Katarokwi-Kingston community members. Beyond Words 2026 will provide students with an opportunity to engage in discussion pertaining to this year’s playful, rest-oriented theme: Touch Grass!
SHARAN GILL, PROGRAM ASSISTANT
Sharan (she/her) is a third year Art History and Psychology Major at Queen’s University. As a first-generation Canadian from a Punjabi background, she is passionate about diversifying the arts community on campus. A strong believer in art's power to heal, she has experience in research and community engagement and is excited to lead the Beyond Words BIPOC Art Series at Union Gallery.