By Anvika Bheemarasetty

On January 26, Sumi Panchap led a colorful Madhubani art workshop at the International Community School as part of the school’s annual “Phoenix Day.” The event invited parents of their students to come and share an art form with the kids for a day! For the workshop, Mrs. Panchap designed a series of digital reference images using Procreate to help guide students create their own little Madhubani masterpieces in a day. The session ran from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and was organized into three batches, each consisting of 22 students. 

Throughout the day, the students explored the basics of Madhubani and even went all the way to create their own painting. With Ms. Panchap's guidance, they were able to explore a traditional art form while exploring their creativity and having fun!

By Anishka Gogoi

 Recently, our very own Deepti Agrawal was invited by Humanities WA to visit the state capitol in Olympia. She was there for a legislative visit to meet with our senators and various representatives to advocate for the public arts and humanities. 

This type of work is vital to ensure that all forms of art, not just Madhubani, are honored and respected, and that artists can continue receiving support and opportunities to showcase their work. We are honored that Ms. Agrawal could represent the ancient Indian folkart of Madhubani and everything our studio stands for at such a large and important venue! 

By Manavi Shukla

Every year, Washington state hosts the Governor's Arts and Heritage Awards, celebrating Washington’s best artists and cultural organizations. The award was established not only to honor artists who excel in their craft but also sustain and preserve cultures and traditions. 

On February 4th this year, the sixtieth annual GAHA ceremony took place, bringing together art supporters, artists, and community leaders. It was a tremendous honor to have Deepti Agarwal be invited as the speaker for the 2026 ceremony. As the speaker, her presence perfectly set the stage for the awards ceremony. On the right are some pictures from this amazing event!

By Jahnavi Shukla

Congratulations to our six artists, Abhay Bodapati, Sameera Kashyap, Anugraha Ganesh, Saisha Kashyap, Janani Iyer, and Mayra Shah for representing Madhubani art at the Kuchipudi Konnect Abhivarna: Nila event!

Nila, which means blue, was the theme for this event. So, the above six artists were selected from our school to showcase their art pieces that used the color blue as the dominant hue.

Throughout the event, our artists' paintings were featured onstage to make a beautiful backdrop for the Kuchipudi dance performances. Often, one could note the same mythological stories being expressed in the dance performances as were on the paintings! Most remarkably, each of our six artists confidently gave an impromptu presentation on their paintings at the end of the event.

Their dedication to their work was recognized with each artist earning a certificate. Ultimately, it was a wonderful example of the value of all the forms of traditional arts, right here in our community. Great job, artists!