Draw on your family’s personal experiences to create meaningful new work that uncovers the less obvious stories that exist within a family. You’ll be experimenting with different methods that go beyond photographing everyday life, and include transforming archival or new photos with collage, assemblage, and the manipulation of physical images — actually cutting up prints or attaching hand-crafted artifacts like lace, stickers, and objects from the past or present. These different methods of storytelling can also include staging imaginary scenes with family members, stand-ins — or yourself — as models.

Students will learn how to create a structure for working on their project — which can include developing an idea, making a storyboard, doing research, and editing. Work by contemporary artists and photographers on family topics will be presented and discussed. This class is open to everyone, whether family members are present or not.

With a sense of humor and irony, Pustaiová in her own artwork explores role-playing as an element that helps inform the way family members, relatives, and friends relate to one another.