Rajine Williams, colloquially called Rajine the Queen, has been teaching art classes since 2020 through nonprofits and art centers around the greater Twin Cities. When working with the youth she is conscious of the demographics she works with and uses it to curate the sessions - right down to the materials.
“My proponent of teaching art is just always making it equitable and accessible because a lot of people think that art is not tangible,” explained Rajine. “A lot of people think that art belongs to museums, and it's by old dead white people and no art is all around us. We have great artists literally right here in the twin cities in Minnesota.”
Rajine says she wants to inspire youth to tap into their creativity; she believes that creativity is a great skill, no matter what your career.
To make her art practice more financially accessible to students, she makes a point of purchasing her art supplies from the dollar store. That way they can continue making art at home without spending too much money.
Rajine says she’s looking forward to introducing her students to a practice she’s calling ‘Something You Can Feel.’ She listens to orchestral film scores while she creates, letting the mood and structure of the music influence the shape of her art.
“So choosing different tones, tempos and then having them be blindfolded, and then having them have their sight,” she explained. “So they can do two different canvases so we can see how it influences their creativity.”
Rajine believes that there is a plethora of youth who are creative, but because of prejudice aren’t encouraged to pursue it. She strives to exemplify how creativity is a valuable skill, even for people who don’t work in the arts.
You can hear Rajine’s thoughts on creativity on her Youtube Channel, Rajine the Queen.
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