During art club, Fair Grove Middle School students come together in the art room to make new friends and explore their passion for creating.
The Middle School Art Club is sponsored by middle school art teacher and high school girls’ assistant soccer coach, Kezia Price. Her goal with the club is to provide students with a creative outlet while allowing them to make friends in a safe space. Price shared, “The main focus of art club is to allow students to explore styles, techniques, and mediums, in a relaxed, fun, and engaging environment.”
Many of the students engaged in the art club express that they like the social aspect of the club and the large amount of creative freedom they have to perfect their craft. Berkeley Viets (6), a first year attendee of the Middle School Art Club, commented, “I like art club because it allows me to get better at art outside of school and all of my friends are in it, so we can hang out too.”
The art club does many projects during the school year, with ideas coming from what the students are interested in. Throughout the year, these pieces will vary greatly from each other due to the different types of media used to create them. Price stated, “Several activities are projects they have seen on social media- polymer clay magnets, cardboard sculptures, or fun seasonal projects.”
Price generally does not plan out the club’s projects too far in advance. She notes, “I want to give students the opportunity to come up with projects that they would like to complete as a whole. This gives students more ownership of the projects they make and more buy in.
The students in the club don’t just stop at seasonal projects and sculptures though, they are also involved in creating decorations for various school events. The most notable event they help with is the middle school’s Fright Night, where they help make things such as photo backdrops, props, and other decorations to bring the event to life.
Aside from helping out with school events, the students also have some wishes for future projects such as Allie Crandall (5) and Camden Buffington (6) who expressed a desire to paint on canvas. In addition Emma Workman (6) and Berkeley Viets (5) wish to create large sculptures with clay.
Even if certain wishes from students may be a little ambitious with the art club’s resources, Price does her best to come up with projects that compromise with the students’ desires and the resources available.
The art club meets every Thursday from 3:45 to 4:30. Their next meeting will be held October 30th, in the middle school art room.
