Materials Lab Workshop (Off-Site): Making Faces

This workshop accompanies the exhibition Funerary Portraits from Roman Egypt: Facing Forward, which invites viewers to ask more about the complicated histories of these portraits and the people they depict. It also explores what can be learned about the artistic processes and current condition of these works through scientific analysis and technical research conducted by staff in the Harvard Art Museums’ Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies. Funerary Portraits is on view at the Harvard Art Museums through December 30, 2022. We encourage participants to visit the exhibition at some point before the workshop date. Please be advised that this exhibition contains objects that were removed from ancient Egyptian burials.

Join visiting artist Francisco Benitez for a short overview of the long history of encaustic (pigmented wax) painting and demonstration of the technique before making your own copy of a funerary portrait of a woman from the Harvard Art Museums collections. Curator Susanne Ebbinghaus, one of the Funerary Portraits team members, will provide background on the portraits from Roman Egypt. Creating our own version of the ancient image is a means to better appreciating the process and the painter’s skill. The workshop also aims to honor and remember the ancient subject of the portrait we will copy, and to celebrate the relationship between artist and sitter that allowed her essence to be captured so powerfully.

This workshop is co-sponsored by the Harvard Art Museums and the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Led by:

Francisco Benitez, Encaustic Artist

No prior experience is necessary. $15 materials fee. Registration is required and space is limited. Registration for this workshop will open on Wednesday October 26, 2022 at this link, and participants will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis. To join the waitlist, please email [email protected]. Minimum age of 18 to comply with the Harvard Minors-in-Labs policy.

This workshop will take place in the Active Learning Labs, at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 150 Western Avenue, in Allston, Massachusetts. At the main entrance at the corner of Western Avenue and Stadium Road, the security desk attendant can direct you to the workshop location on the lower level. Buses 501, 57, and 66 serve that area. There is on-street parking on both sides of Western Avenue. Alternatively, the lot at 2 Hague Street has 4-hour meters and full-day passes can be purchased for $6 through the Harvard Online Parking Permit System [HOPPS].

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