By Amanda Taylor

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – UTRGV’s ASL Club will present two De’Via (Deaf View/Image Art) painting workshops this month as part of the Texas Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Camp Sign virtual activities.

The camps will be held Tuesday, July 27, from noon to 3 p.m. for ages 8 to 12, and again Thursday, July 29, from noon to 3 p.m. for ages 13 to 17.

The camp is free and open to children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Ana Lilia Hernandez, ASL Club president, said participating in this year’s camps was important to promote inclusivity to the deaf community.

“We were contacted and asked if we’d like to do a fun activity for the kids, so we jumped at the opportunity as we like to get involved with the community,” Hernandez said, who is also a junior pursuing her BA in American Sign Language in trilingual interpretation – which means learning how to interpret sign language in American, Spanish and traditional ASL.

“With COVID-19 shifting everything to Zoom meetings, we’ve been trying to stay active doing different collaborations and events like this, so we decided to try debut painting for the camp,” she said.

The interactive, step-by-step instruction will be entirely organized by the UTRGV ASL Club, including choosing the model pieces of art. Each painting piece will be carefully selected for each age group.

The process will feature a painter demonstrating step-by-step detail on how to paint the chosen art piece. The painter will go over techniques, colors, as well as finer details such as the types of paintbrushes to use.

The workshops will be broken down to include the smaller children in one for an easier piece, and the older teenagers in another to tackle a more complicated piece. All materials for each workshop will be provided upon registration for the camp.

Aside from a painting workshop, the camp will provide webinars on plant care, cartooning and a disaster preparedness workshop.

“Workshops like these are important because, not only does it promote inclusivity, but it teaches these kids something that just might become a passion,” Hernandez said. “It’s always good to try new things and making art is a great way to express feelings and it could even become a stress reliever for some.”

To register, visit the link here. To learn more about the camp, visit this website.

For more information, email the Texas Office of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services at dhhs.training@hhs.texas.gov.