Lydia Regalado is an arts educator and blogger who guest blogs for us about people coming together to make things.

There were lots of art happenings this past weekend around Dallas: several openings, City Arts and the first Diorama-O-Rama charity event. Diorama-O-Rama is a group of local artists who come together to create dioramas, auction them off and donate 100% of the proceeds to a worthy cause; in this case, Dallas artist Justin Sullivan’s mounting bills associated with his treatment for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Dioramas are an assemblage of a variety of materials in some kind of container. They vary in size; sometimes there is a theme, sometimes there is not. Anyone with a glue gun could participate, and if you didn’t have a diorama, you could create one there! Some of the prize categories included, but were not limited to: most rad, low rent, French, peaceful, and derivative. There were dioramas in a toy microwave, a Louis Vuitton purse, from wearable dioramas and even a teeny Lee Harvey’s. The entries were thoughtful and creative, ranging from very minimal to technologically advanced. With more than 60 entries, over $2,000 was raised, and the hosts of Diorama-O-Rama hope to have more in the future. View pics from the party here.

Next Up: Tish Brewer and Shannon Driscoll Phillips of Paper Nerds will be teaching a Jacob’s Ladder Book Workshop this Sunday, June 22nd from 1 PM- 4:30 PM, at their studio in Expo Park. Learn a 2,000 year old Chinese technique to create a book that can be read straight through or flip to reveal the hidden pages. Cost is $ 45, all materials are supplied, as well as take-home instructions. Space is limited, so contact them at 214.827.0200 to register.
See you there!