The courtyard under the tall palms glowed with a soft afternoon brightness, the kind that turns the air warm and makes shadows feel slow. Tables were arranged in wide arcs, each spanned by coated cyanotype sheets shifting from pale green to deep blue as the sun moved across the sky. Water trays lined the edges, reflecting the overhead fronds. For a few hours, the space was transformed into an outdoor studio, where the people who normally pass by each other with quick greetings finally gathered around the same tables. Students stood alongside staff from the mailroom, facilities, and campus operations – our art-making colleagues for an afternoon. The familiar faces who hand out packages each morning, repair equipment, clean shared spaces, and help the campus run long after most students have gone home were suddenly part of a shared artistic process. Conversations rose, and settled with ease. Names were exchanged. For many, the scene felt like a version of NYU Abu Dhabi that often goes unseen, or even unexpected. Taking architectural patterns from Abu Dhabi as the theme, The Art Society at NYU Abu Dhabi collaborated with the university’s Office of Social Responsibility to host a cyanotype-printing workshop. Transparencies of facades, verandas, geometric screens, and courtyard forms were passed along the tables. Participants chose the structures they recognized or simply found beautiful. As the sunlight pressed onto the coated paper, architectural shapes slowly emerged as deep cobalt impressions. At one table, a mailroom colleague worked with a transparency drawn from the Obeid Al Mazru’i Building. Many in Abu Dhabi recognize the building immediately for its carved geometric surface that holds shadows in repeating rectangular pockets. On the cyanotype paper, those forms became a quiet sequence of softened edges. The light filtered through the palms above him, drifting across the pattern like a second layer of design. As the print developed in the rinse tray, the blue deepened into a rich tone that revealed both the sharp rhythm of the architecture and the gentle movement of the courtyard. He shared that he had always been curious about the building because of its sculptural depth. Seeing it printed in blue made it feel almost new, as if the pattern had been lifted from the bustling city and placed into a calmer setting. Nearby, another colleague arranged overlapping shapes from old residential blocks, creating long corridors of light and shade. Her print captured the experience of walking through Abu Dhabi’s quieter neighborhoods where the sun falls differently depending on the time of day. She described the entire process as unexpectedly peaceful. What shaped the entire workshop was the unexpected sense of ease between people who everyday share the same campus but rarely have time to sit together. Students asked mailroom staff how long they had worked at the university. Colleagues from Facilities pointed out which buildings they recognized on the transparencies. Others compared neighborhoods, commutes, and favorite corners of the city. Many colleagues noted that they do not often join student activities despite working in the same environment every day. Being invited into a creative space under the palms allowed them to participate not as staff fulfilling a task, but as people with stories, interests, and their own relationships to Abu Dhabi. Students described the workshop as grounding. Working next to the people who support their daily routines shifted the atmosphere into one of mutual respect, and curiosity. The usual divisions between roles felt less present, replaced by shared concentration, and the rhythmic movement of holding prints to the light. OSR emphasized the importance of creating opportunities where people in different roles can meet through creativity rather than instruction. This workshop aligned with this effort by offering a space shaped by calm attention instead of deadlines. For the Art Society, it became an opportunity to expand artmaking beyond student-centered circles and reach the wider campus community. As the prints began to dry, the tables filled with shades of blue that held both structure and softness. Some cyanotypes captured architectural patterns with astonishing clarity. Others allowed the sunlight to distort the forms into something looser. Each print became a record of the person who made it, the building they recognized, and the light that moved across the courtyard that afternoon. By late afternoon, participants lingered with their prints held up to the fading light. People compared shades of blue, explained their choices, and quietly admired one another’s work. The workshop became a small celebration of the colleagues who anchor daily campus life. It revealed the simple joy that appears when everyone is invited to slow down, use their hands, and meet one another without the rush of routine. The cyanotypes under the palms captured more than architecture. They held the presence of the people who keep the university moving, the students who rely on them, and the gentle rhythm of an afternoon shaped by shared attention. In their deep blue tones, the prints recorded a brief moment where the NYU Abu Dhabi community felt whole, connected, and present in the same place at the same time.