Lindz Routt calls her art “revenge on the wall”.

Routt, a graduating senior, invited students and the community to share thoughts, memories, and stories during her “Take Away” show, which opened at the Affinity Lab on U Street May 7. Instead of the typical hands off policy of many galleries, Routt asked viewers to write and draw on the panels next to her paintings.

“All the paintings you see here are my own work,” Routt said. “It’s what I’ve taken away from snapshots of my travels, of people that have had a sort of impact on my life, of things that I remember.”

But Routt’s work is only half of the experience.

“I would like for you all to leave things that you remember,” she instructed. Viewers were invited to become participants: to draw, write, connect, and interact with each of the pieces. Fifteen of these ad-hoc artists, selected by Routt, won a free painting in exchange for their clever contributions.

Routt based “Take Away” on “the concept of giving back art” in exchange for life experiences. DJ Goodland and band TNTrio added their music to Routt’s event, giving back in their own way.

Reflecting on Routt’s approach to collaborative artistic expression, Tony Fowler of TNTrio said he remembers Routt constructing a sculpture on the GW campus that encouraged everyone to write or draw “anything that they wanted, pictures, quotations, silly stupid things…”

“I remember going there everyday and writing a little something here and there,” Fowler said. “I just saw her doing her thing and I know that she’s going to keep doing it.”

By the end of the evening, the walls of the Affinity Lab were considerably less barren. When the provided panels were full, attendees taped construction paper to the walls. Routt seemed to have accomplished what she set out to do: create new art and new artists.