About Face! Arts2abundance to host mask workshop, sale on Oct. 9

Have you been looking at the same face in the mirror for years and thinking, “Surely there must be something more interesting to be done here.”

Well, the moment has arrived. On Friday, Oct. 9 at 1:30 p.m., the Arts2abundance Club will light up Multipurpose Room 3 at Gateway with an afternoon of artistic revelry and emerging alter-identities, with absolutely no need to explain yourself afterward.

From art instructor and sherpa Anna George, each participant will receive a blank, beautifully contoured paper-mâché mask and an enticing little arsenal of paints, glue and embellishments. Their mission is simple: Create somebody – or something – you’ve always wanted to be. And prepare to be very, very altered by the experience.

Ferocious? Demure? Goofball? Grotesque? Indescribably anti-verisimilitude? Chartreuse? Perhaps your usually mild personality secretly longs to become a leopard. Maybe your inner diva has been waiting years for feathers. Or perhaps you’ve always suspected you were born to be a magnificent blue creature with enormous eyebrows. Now is your chance to manifest an alter-you. Halloween may be the official excuse, but frankly, a new identity is useful all year.

Enjoy music, treats, creativity, camaraderie and stunning masks donated by artists available for purchase like those shown here. If your artistic ambition suddenly deserts you, no matter – you can simply buy one and leave with a fabulous new face knowing you’ve done good.

Try not to dawdle! Only 22 participants may join this witness-protection program for once perfectly respectable faces. The workshop fee is just $20, with proceeds supporting Arts2abundance’s mission of giving to worthy local charities. In other words, your double sawbuck brings you art, entertainment, refreshments, a new face – and the satisfaction of helping someone who needs it. That’s a pretty good bargain for one afternoon’s personality transplant.

To reserve your spot, send a check to the Arts2abundance Club. Residents may also join the club for 2027 for an additional $15 – a decision the club will regard as evidence of excellent judgment. Drop your check in the club’s admin mailbox at Gateway or mail it to: Arts2abundance/Anna George, 2956 Tice Creek Dr., No. 3, Walnut Creek, CA 94595. Contact George at 1-925-783-9000 for more information.

Retire that familiar old visage, unleash your inner creature, diva, dreamer or unidentified species, and let’s get this mask-querade started! Your former face will forgive you. Probably.