The Cosplay Club at UC Santa Barbara hosted an event in collaboration with the Isla Vista Food Cooperative and the Isla Vista Small Artists Cooperative on Oct. 18. The collaboration brought together a UCSB club and a longstanding part of I.V.
Workshop attendees worked on their own costumes and cosplays using materials provided by the Cosplay Club. Elijah Obando / Daily Nexus
The event, titled “Halloween Costumes & Crafting Workshop,” was held at the patio in front of the I.V. Food Co-op, allowing attendees to work on their own costumes and cosplays. The Cosplay Club provided attendees with an assortment of fabrics, cardboard, paint, markers and pens to use. Attendees were seen working on their crafts at the benches and tables on the patio while music played in the background.
Cosplay Club President Syanne Luo, a third-year economics and film and media studies double major, explained that the event was planned after the I.V. Food Co-op reached out requesting a collaboration related with crafts and costumes.
The process of planning the event was through a series of emails that ensured everyone would be able to contribute to the plan. After managing scheduling and securing supplies the event was finalized.
The club accepted the opportunity to collaborate because their primary goal is to get people interested in cosplay. The club was able to utilize spare materials they had so that attendees could have a space for hands-on work.
Cosplay Club aims to help people gain basic crafting skills. Luo emphasized that the club hopes event attendees can gain an appreciation for the work that goes into cosplay and how anyone can get into cosplay, but the hardest part is knowing where to start.
“You don’t need to know any cosplay at all or any skills to join our club, the point is to find a community of people who kind of have the same interests as you and get the experience of all those things while making friends,” Luo said.
Cosplay Club was created three years ago and primarily hosts workshops for people looking to learn skills related to cosplay, including prop design, makeup and sewing. The club also hosts social events, during which members can get to know each other better, as well as hold photo shoots where professional photographers are brought in to take photos of their cosplayers.
The president of the UCSB branch of the Isla Vista Small Artists Co-op, fourth-year zoology major Chloe Kwon, was also present at the event. Kwon explained that the collaboration with the I.V. Food Co-op came from a shared goal of wanting to host more community-oriented events.
“[The I.V. Food Co-op] want[s] to distinguish themselves as not just a grocery store but a community gathering space,” Kwon said.
The I.V. Food Co-op has been a longstanding part of the Isla Vista community since 1972. Founded by students and Isla Vistans, they are the only community-owned grocery store in the Santa Barbara area. Their purpose is to give access to affordable food from local farmers and producers.
“One of our main goals when we talk about outreach is about building community and placemaking and having the Co-op be able to be a third place where people can be,” I.V. Food Co-op board director Lisa Oglesby said.
A version of this article appeared on p. 6 of the Oct. 23 print edition of the Daily Nexus.
