As the first quarter of school is wrapping up, the SHS Art Club has started. It provides a space for students to share their artwork and creativity.
This is the first Art Club SHS has had in two years, and it is intended to be a space for students with a passion for art to showcase it.
“My goal is just to make a community where kids feel welcome to do whatever they want to do, obviously with art,” senior Harjas Kaur, the president of the Art Club said. “And enjoy who they are, make sure they discover themselves, achieve their goals and make sure they get more connected with the school.”
Art teacher, Kristine Brennan, is taking on the role of sponsoring the Art Club. She first started her job at SHS four years ago and has, since then, seen the Art Club come and go and is now back sponsoring it.
Photo contributed by Kristine Brennan
Brennan’s goals for the club are similar to Kaur’s as well. They explain that it is more for the kids and community.
“For me, it’s to bring more kids together,” Brennan said. “Have it be a little more social, but kids have the opportunity to be involved in something and lead something.”
Since SHS hasn’t had an art club in two years, they are still figuring out how to have an enjoyable organization while also maintaining an orderly structure.
As a result of having no structure in past years, the club is student-led this year so it is more engaging for the students. Back then, it used to be an unorganized time where students would just go in and work on art. There was no determined system to the way they did things in the club.
“Some different ideas that have been thrown out there … ,” Brennan said. “Then, of course, just studio time, where they can come in and have some structure. “This week we’re going to do a clay assignment.”
The meetings are held Wednesdays during Ipass but go into after-school time because of the limited time.
The leadership team consists of Kaur, junior Tristian Gill, vice president of the Art Club and communication specialist, Sui Par, are hoping to grow the crew over time.
“My expectations right now are to have a free space for kids to express their ideas,” Gill said. “If they’re not in an art class because your schedule can’t fit it, it’s nice for kids to come in and be able to still do art.”
One thing they’ve done to promote their club was having a craft table for kids at Cardfest. In the future, they plan to put up student made murals around the school and do some community service projects.
Something they are planning to do so that everyone can enjoy the club is to break into smaller groups during their club times. When the group was working on a booth for Cardfest, they broke into groups to ensure that everyone could contribute.
The leadership team says that they’re hoping that this club will bring kids together and give students an opportunity to be involved in something. They’re excited to see community growth and student involvement.
“I’m so glad it’s back,” Kaur said. “This creates so much more opportunity to do what you wanna do.”
