Phone-free zone: Analog Sunday facilitates creativity without technology
Artist Kinta McGhee hosts a monthly, tech-free collage-making event at a Wichita kombucha brewery.
On the last Sunday of the month, Apollo Fermentations, a locally owned kombucha joint, hosts Analog Sunday with artist Kinta McGhee. Participants can grab scissors, glue, magazines and other paper ephemera, snag a 'booch from the bar, and collage to their heart’s content.
Recently I tried it out myself alongside more than 30 other collage-makers. McGhee provided everything we needed to make a one-of-a-kind piece of art.
“I love the vibe (of Apollo Fermentations), and I wanted to host something that was accessible to all, that gave people a chance to put their phones away and try something,” said McGhee, who is herself a collage artist. “We started up after Thanksgiving last year as a way for people to have something to do, a place to gather without their phones..”
McGhee put out magazines and cutting mats, and participants chose from old photographs, stamps and flashcards. By the end of the afternoon, clippings and discarded items sprinkled the tables and floors.
“I think collage is a welcoming and forgiving kind of art, and that’s why it appeals to me. Plus, she provides literally everything we need,” said Jena James, who has attended every Analog Sunday event.
Analog Sundays are open to all ages, and the events are free — although participants can make a cash or Venmo donation. The only rule: no cell phones. McGhee provided a camera linked to Snap Social, a traveling photo project that uploads images to Instagram without participants having to use their own phones.
“This is my first time attending Analog Sunday,” Alyson Assaf said. “I just love the idea of community here, and there’s an atmosphere of warmth. There’s just something about people getting together to do a craft that appealed to me.”
The next Analog Sunday is scheduled for February 22 at 1 p.m. Events at Apollo Fermentations are accessible to people with physical disabilities.
— Shelly Walston is an educator, reader, writer, and collector of commemorative state plates.
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