When Poonam Rao started a Facebook page in December 2012, she didn't consider herself an art studio owner.
"I just created my page with all the artwork that I had, to see what people were thinking," she says. "I didn't have plans of any sort."
The Facebook experiment quickly spawned Celebrations Art Studio, an Indian art gallery, studio and teaching initiative based in Sun Prairie.
Rao says Indian art is hard to come by in Madison, and that it tends to be a luxury item of sorts.
"If you want to buy Indian art, it is... not affordable for each and every home," she says.
With this in mind, Rao was able to carve out a niche for her business. In the process, her artistic practice has grown in three directions: creating works for exhibitions, teaching Indian arts and crafts, and decorating skin and fabric with henna, a plant-based dye often used to create intricate, tattoo-like designs. She spends her summers doing henna applications at festivals throughout Dane County, and she brought the art form to Overture Center's 10th anniversary celebration last month. Henna arts are also part of her exhibitions, such as shows at Imperial Garden, Central Library (January-February 2015) and Overture Center (March-May 2015).
When the summer festival season is over, Rao moves indoors to teach. The educational part of her work grew out of the studio, when she realized that the Madison area offers few opportunities for people to learn about henna. She began teaching classes at Madison School and Community Recreation and partnered with Madison College's continuing education department to create a three-week Henna Art Fundamentals class, next scheduled for spring 2015.
"This is my way of giving back to the community, by teaching them an age-old art, and with that they have the potential of [making] money, thereby creating job opportunities in our county," Rao says.
Rao also teaches at the UW-Madison Memorial Union's Wheelhouse Studios, at area libraries, and as a visiting speaker at Dane County schools. She's even working with East High School to create a Henna Club.
"I'm making a change in people's [lives]," she says. "At the same time, it gives me a sense of satisfaction when they are happy to see their creations and it's not just an activity for passing time.... I think for some people it could be their source of income."
But making money is only one of the perks. Rao recalls a rewarding moment from a summer festival about a year ago. While doing henna applications, she met a young cancer patient whose bald head was hidden under a hat. A few hours later, the young girl's family returned and asked Rao to draw a henna tattoo on her head.
"That was my first time doing a henna crown, and it was a very touching experience," Rao says. "I felt like it made her feel beautiful, and that it was a special moment for her and for her family."