The "art caf" is a concept that is part of the independent Humanities Interdisciplinary Program study project of Allison Rhodes '02 and Aviva Palmer '02. Palmer and Rhodes, under the guise of Professor Robin Dash (HIP) and her HIP11b class, "The Grid: In and Out of Bounds," came up with an idea to have art cafs on campus. The two students also received a Hewlett Pluralism Grant to execute the project. An art caf could be anything from squeezing orange juice outside Pearlman to giving henna tattoos in Usdan. Other cafs, conceived and put on by students of HIP11b, included an iced tea party, a musical parade, and the construction of candy sculptures. These art cafs were presented to the Brandeis community all semester. The idea was to expose students to art, and to enable them to relax and have fun.The climax of the semester was an all night art caf at Cholmondley's. The caf began at 11 a.m. last Tuesday and went all the way to 5 p.m. on Wednesday. The students of HIP11b, for which Palmer is a teaching assistant, were very involved in the planning process and many showed up at various times throughout the caf to help out.
Cholmondley's was covered in plastic, and art supplies were spread out everywhere. Supplies included paint, clay, magazines for collages, wire, crayons, markers, shoeboxes, cardboard and much more. There was always food available, and at one point a picnic was even set up on the floor.

Music was constantly playing, providing a relaxing environment to create in. Several students started a drum circle late Tuesday night. By that time, the room was covered with art projects that various students had made. People streamed in at all hours to create, and several students slept on the floor in Chum's that night.

Palmer and Rhodes plan to have an art opening to showcase all the art made at the caf, as well as a documentary film by Jonas Klabin '02, Anna Cannold '02 and Carolyn Karo '02 that they are making for their independent film study. The film features footage from the art cafs.