This event is directly across the street fom the campus on Battleview Parkway.

Manassas will have its 3rd Annual Writing Conference on the Manassas campus on April 28th from 10am-3pm. This year the conference will feature two sessions. The first session will be led by Katie Claire, Assistant Dean of English at George Mason University and certified Mental Health instructor. Katie's workshop, "Writing in the Time of Pain, Stress, and Anxiety," will help participants understand and experience how writing can help you become a more peaceful, productive, and healthier YOU. In addition to her administrative role, Katie enjoys teaching because it allows her to engage with students in the classroom. She is pursuing her PhD in Writing and Rhetoric with a research emphasis in mindfulness, well-being, and contemplative pedagogies. She is a certified Mental Health First Aid instructor through the National Council for Behavioral Health. Outside of work, she spends her time cooking and baking, reading and writing, parenting, and exploring a range of well-being practices with her family, especially meditation and yoga.

The second session, Visual Art Journaling, led by Cheryl Miehl, is an exciting frontier for those wanting to combine art and words (if desired) to express yourself. It provides a place to access your creative energy, image-making ability and explore a variety of techniques, tools and processes to create very personalized artwork. Artists will experiment with graphite, caran d’ache crayons, colored pencil, paint, collage and printmaking techniques to learn the basic skills needed to create visual art journals. Visual Art Journals emphasize the use of color (lots of color!), texture, shape, line, and image. Come explore the endless possibilities of this personal artist expression! No previous artistic experience required as there are no rules, just self-expression! Cheryl A. Miehl received her Bachelor of Science degree in Art Education from Millersville University of Pennsylvania in 2001 and her Master of Interdisciplinary Studies in Mixed Media Painting & Bookmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2011. She holds teaching certificates in Pennsylvania and Virginia for pre-K through grade 12. She is actively involved in the local and state levels of the Virginia Art Education Association, currently serving as the Northern Region President. She teaches Visual Art at Brentsville District High School to students in grade 9-12, and has over 15 years of experience teaching all levels.

Supplies will be included, for great take home projects. Lunch is also provided.