Blaq Art Nouveau hosts ‘Beauty Shop’ for Women’s History Month
Healthcare administration studies senior Aysha Stovall, 22, president of WKU’s Blaq Art Nouveau, gets her hair done by interior design studies sophomore Tylia Standard, 19, her vice president, on Wednesday, March 22, 2023 in room 2085 of DSU for a “beauty shop” event. Local hair stylists and event organizers hosted open discussions on various topics surrounding hair for Black women, alongside live demonstrations on hair styling and salon techniques.
March 23, 2023
Blaq Art Nouveau held a beauty shop on Wednesday, March 22 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in room 2085 of the Downing Student Union.
Blaq Art Nouveau is an art expression group that supports people in building their art and performing various aspects of it, and the beauty shop was hosted as a Women’s History Month event. Several members demonstrated how to braid hair and held an open discussion about the history and identity that comes along with it.
They received support from the Intercultural Student Engagement Center (ISEC) to help spread the word about this event. Social Media Director Jasmine Lively assisted in getting the word out by utilizing ISEC support and graphics on social media.
“We put it on social media because we found people really learn about events through media,” Lively said. “It was on the ISEC flyer and we asked other organizations that have the same demographic to post. We just want to get the word out there.”
Vice President Tylia Standard also assisted in making flyers and t-shirts as a way of advertising the beauty shop. Standard herself is a stylist and is very passionate about the impact braiding has had on her life. She believes that hair is an art form and discussed the importance of the history of braids, how we can interact with hair and the identity that it can provide.
“History really impacts me because it [braids] ultimately did come from slavery, and it came from a way to reach freedom,” Standard said. “They used braids to resemble the cornrows to escape and reach freedom and they would braid the maps in women’s hair.”
After giving a presentation on braids, Standard was able to demonstrate her talents by styling the hair of Aysha Stovall, the President of Blaq Art Nouveau. Stylist Shauntia Townes of Shaunnys Royalty was also in attendance to demonstrate her skill.
Hunter Dukes, a senior who has been involved in Blaq Art Nouveau since his freshman year, shared what he felt was significant about this event.
“I’ve never seen an event like this be called a beauty shop,” Dukes said. “Even though I’m a guy, hair is still important to me. I feel like it’s an expression of yourself.”
News reporter Olivia Estep can be reached at [email protected].
