On the corner of Mill Street and Saltonstall Avenue in Fair Haven, just 1.6 miles down from the Yale School of Art’s main building on Chapel Street, you’ll find a new mural created by 2020 MFA alum of the Painting/Printmaking program, Victoria Martinez. Entitled Take the Risk to Cool Down, the mural is the result of 12+ months of work by Martinez, collaborators across Yale, and Daniel Pizarro, MFA ‘12, the Communications Design Fellow for the project.

In Fall 2023, the Yale School of Art will welcome renowned South African beadwork artist Hlengiwe Dube to lead a four-day workshop in traditional Zulu beadworking. Dube will be an artist in residence at School of Art beginning Monday, September 18 through Thursday, September 21, 2023.

Born in 1974 in New Hanover, South Africa, Dube moved to the valley of a thousand hills in KwaZulu Natal—heartland of the Zulu Kingdom—at the age of nine. Here she learned to bead from her grandmother, and sold her first piece of beadwork, a ‘love letter’ necklace at the age of 12. From her grandmother and mother, she gained a deep knowledge and appreciation for the history of Zulu beadwork, especially the meanings of different colors and patterns: the language of beads.

This program is generously supported by John and Kate Carrafiell, the Yale School of Art’s Cross-Cultural Fund and the Yale University Art Gallery. The workshop is hosted by the Yale School of Art’s Graphic Design Department and Sculpture Department. Dube will be resident at the School of Art’s Sculpture Department at 36 Edgewood Ave. Students can come in and out of the studio to watch and speak with Dube at work. She will lead hands-on workshops each day with the students who sign up.