SOIL: Mindful Mask-Making Experience

🎭 Mindful Mask-Making Experience

A Creative Wellness & Self-Expression Workshop

Thursday, January 8, 2026 | 6:00–9:00 PM

📍 1310 Gallery , Fort Lauderdale, FL

🎟️ FREE & Open to the Public (Donations welcomed)

The Mindful Mask-Making Experience is a guided, reflective art-making workshop inviting participants to explore identity, emotion, and self-expression through the creation of a personal mask.

In Niki Lopez’s artistic practice, masks function as symbolic self-portraits—bridging personal narrative, cultural memory, and transformation.

Rooted in mindfulness and creative freedom, this experience offers space to slow down, tune inward, and express what lives beneath the surface—using color, texture, symbols, and intuitive mark-making. No artistic experience is required—just curiosity and a willingness to create.

Traditionally offered as a paid pop-up workshop, this special SOIL edition is free to the community as part of the exhibition’s commitment to accessible, healing-centered arts programming.

What to Expect

• Guided mindful mask-making with open creative exploration
• Reflection prompts to support self-expression and emotional awareness
• A welcoming, supportive space centered on presence and creativity
• All art materials provided
• Light bites provided

Why Masks?

Mask-making is central to Niki Lopez’s artistic practice, where masks are used as symbolic self-portraits—exploring identity, spirituality, resilience, and personal transformation. In this workshop, the mask becomes both a creative object and a reflective tool, inviting participants to explore what they carry, what they reveal, and how art can support healing and self-discovery. Rooted in cultural symbolism and mindfulness, the experience honors masks as vessels for storytelling, expression, and inner clarity.

(More details: https://nikilopez.art/maskmaking)

Participant Testimonials:

“This workshop helped me tap into my creative side and express feelings I didn’t know I had.”
“It was a healing experience! I felt a sense of belonging and peace while creating my mask.”

Community & Support

Funding for the SOIL art exhibition and programs is generously provided by Wayne and Lucretia Weiner, the Children’s Services Council of Broward County (CSC), and community donations.

🌱 About the Exhibition

SOIL runs December 19, 2025 – January 23, 2026, with additional workshops and community activations centered on mindfulness, creativity, and connection. Explore the exhibition, artist spotlights, and upcoming programs:

👉🏽 Learn more or: whatsyourelephant.org/wye_soil

🌱 About What’s Your Elephant™

What’s Your Elephant™ is a nonprofit arts and education initiative founded by Niki Lopez that uses art, dialogue, and community engagement to address the unspoken topics impacting our lives and communities. Through exhibitions, workshops, and interactive programming, WYE creates spaces where creativity supports mindfulness, healing, and connection.

🌐 Learn More
👉🏽 whatsyourelephant.org

💛 Support or Sponsor the Exhibition:
Your contributions help sustain accessible, community-centered arts programming that supports wellness, dialogue, and creative expression.
👉🏽 Give or learn more: givebutter.com/wye_soil

Featured Events & Community Activations

• Opening Night — Friday, December 19 (6–9 PM)
• 🎨 WYE Collage-Making & Artist Talk — Saturday, December 27 (6 - 9 PM) (GET TICKETS)
• 🎭 Mindful Mask-Making — Thursday, January 8 (6–9 PM)
• 🌿 SOIL Wellness Day — Sunday, January 11 (12-4 PM) (GET TICKETS)
• 👨🏽‍👩🏽‍👧🏽 Mommy & Me: A Family Affair — Sunday, January 18 (12–3 PM)
• 💞 Closing: Friendship, Network & Flow — Friday, January 23 (6-9 PM)