Art Club serves community with inspiring projects

By Gisselle Washington | Big Stick Editor |

Art club has become a  melting pot of different various art forms and students. The club, an outlet for creative expression from arrays of vivid paints to dense slippery clay, is open to all students who’d either like to form art for themselves or use art for helping the community.

“We just want them to have a club where they can freely express themselves, create, and really enjoy it,” sponsor Ruth Hui said. “Find it as a way to relax and kinda escape from all the demanding things that are going on in their [students’] lives right now.”

The art club serves the local community with different creative projects to help give back.

“Sometimes groups around our area ask… like last year Windcrest garden club asked us to help them decorate birdhouses and then they auctioned them off to get money to purchase jackets for kids that were in need,” Hui said. “This year Montgomery elementary wants us to do a mural for them. That’s in the works right now.” 

The new officers of the club were selected within the last month for the 2019-2020 school year. The elected president is Michaela Thompson, the elected vice president is Paulina Marin, and the elected social media manager is Ashley Ruiz. 

“As the president of the art club what I do mostly is make sure everyone knows what they’re doing, is staying on task but also having fun, and being able to express themselves for the most part,” Thompson said. “I just hope that everyone can find the club to be a safe place for them to be creative and to be themselves and explore different art mediums.”

The meetings begin with the sponsors, Mrs. Horton and Mrs. Hui, discussing future events planned for the month and the activity they’ll do that day for an estimated 30-40 minutes. 

“We’re basically discussing new ideas for events and we’re helping each other with the ideas,” social media manager Ruiz said. “The teachers help us a lot. They throw ideas out there and we just expand from there.”

The club is planning two hands-on events for the STEAM carnival on Nov. 15 They will take inspiration from artist Jen Stark and her work with explosions of colors. 

‘Now that we have our officers we want it to be more student-led,” Hui said. “So we’d like for them to give us input on what they want to do.”

Now that the club has moved to meeting every week, it’s increased in participation over time. There are a consistent 25 students who attend and the growth in attendance has made the meetings more engaging.

“[Art club ] is like getting your playlist ready, putting your earphones in, and just escaping,” Hui said.