In a quaint house off of 10th Street is the Asian Culture Center, a place of plentiful resources, classes and opportunities for domestic and international students alike who have an interest in Asian culture that is little known to many students.
The Asian Culture Center offers a wide array of programming, such as workshops and discussions. To celebrate the Chinese New Year there was an event featuring crafts, stories and performances.
Beginning this semester the center offers a program Friday evenings that teaches anyone eager to learn the ancient East Asian art of calligraphy. Anyone from beginners to advanced writers are welcomed to join instructor Austin Guan to gain knowledge and assisted practice.
Guan, who began calligraphy at a young age, encourages the public to come to the ACC to learn this skillful cultural practice.
“I am very glad that my teacher taught me well,” Guan said. “Back to the time when I first started, I was even not a good brush holder. It was very hard at first, but when I practiced more, I learned the skill not only physically, but also mentally.”
Anyone of any calligraphy skill level is welcome to join Guan every from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Friday in the Asian Culture Center.
Often working on a one-on-one basis, Guan offers a personalized learning experience to each individual. He teaches attendees whatever they wish to learn from brushes and hard pen techniques to meanings and messages of the script.
He often starts beginning students with the fundamental writing of Chinese characters before transitioning to more advanced strokes to foster an appreciation for the practice.
Next he will correct their method and posture. Finally, the students are ready to approach longer, more complex words and phrases by calligraphy masters.
Though he does take a personalized approach, Guan also expressed the importance of learning in a group to make the experience more enjoyable and effective.
“Personally, I wish to share my calligraphy experience with other people,” Guan said. “It is hard to learn something alone and communication among different learning experience actually promote the process of learning. Also, I figured out it is also a great culture for people to know.”
Although the new program is still small and unknown, Guan and other students said they look forward to its growth as it brings diversity to IU’s campus and student life.
Charley Jackson, an IU student, said she initially came to expand her horizons at IU and to learn more about activities the school has to offer.
“I think, as IU students, we tend to stick to what we know or we don’t have enough information about other programs like this and I think we should take the time to explore other programs,” Jackson said. “Although there were very few people who attended, I feel like this is a program that could grow and could be worth checking out if you’re interested in calligraphy.”
IU student Carrie Maxwell , said she doesn’t know much at her stage of learning, but is committed to. Maxwell said learning this art form is a slow process.
“We had a Chinese New Year celebration in my dorm, and we did this there, and I wanted to learn a bit more,” Maxwell said.
