Students piled into Legacy Multipurpose Room to attend a canvas painting event hosted by Residence Hall Association Jan. 26.

Brenda Morales, RHA president and history junior, said, “We wanted to do this for a while now. We were thinking of something that everybody can do and everybody would feel welcomed.”

The RAs hosted the event for students to unwind, mingle and release their inner creativity, all while getting to know what RHA is all about.

“We were looking forward to meeting new people and involving them in RHA and let them know we’re here for them,” Morales said.

The students were able to enjoy this event regardless of their artistic abilities.

“It’s a good relaxer, and getting out and doing stuff with friends is always good. I don’t think I have ever seen this kind of event before,” said Robert King, criminal justice and psychology senior. “I am not very artistic, so I’ll probably be painting a tree.”

The attendance of this event exceeded their expectations.

“It was very successful. We were not expecting this many people to come,” said Keona Rollerson, vice president of RHA and computer science senior.

Morales said they expected about 20 students to come, but more than 60 showed up. Throughout the night, RHA executives had to go purchase more canvases to compensate for the overwhelming turnout.

With success of this this event in mind, RHA executives are already planning to host a similar event in the future.

“We were just talking about having a part two later in the semester with a little twist,” said Morales. “We really want to make a since of community here at MSU. We saw a lot of friends being made while they were sitting with each other so I thought that was really cool.”