Groups of kids of every grade and type sit around wooden tables, unleashing pencils and markers upon blank paper. One girl sculpts a pair of grasping clay hands, while another girl carefully sketches a Mona Lisa on cardboard. A boy wears green origami like a hat on his head. This is Art Club on a typical Wednesday.
The art department serves approximately half of the Harriton population, while others simply don’t have the time; Art Club is a way for them to still be involved in their passion. A core group comes regularly to Mrs. Carter’s RAM and Art Club every Wednesday, but newcomers are always welcome and the roster changes every meeting. Continuous attendance is not required – if you come ten times in a year, you’re a member.
The seeds of this glorious Wednesday chaos began to take root in summer 2007. A few seniors sent an email to Mrs. Carter, asking to restart the art club, which had been run by a previous teacher. It was not very successful for a few reasons — the students did not actively encourage their friends to join, and the Harriton student population was much smaller at the time.
In 2009, when the new building was constructed, Mrs. Carter decided to restart the club. Despite a slow first year, the number of members has grown substantially in the past two years, with an influx of freshmen this year especially.
Senior, Kelsey Vonk, describes Art Club as “a place where you can hang out with like-minded people. There will always be someone weirder than you in Art Club!”
The club’s atmosphere is very relaxed and social. Some kids catch up on art homework, some work on personal projects, and others just chat and eat candy from the bowls around the room.
Mediums range from pencil and marker to clay and plaster. Group projects are organized for whomever is interested. As the club president, junior, Ophelia Castellitto, announced at the beginning of one meeting, “The only rule is you have to be doing art!”
Though some Art Club members are simply there to relax and create art individually, the group is also involved in collective projects that benefit the school community. Last year, Art Club helped to create the Mr. Harriton set, made posters for events that were school wide or run by other clubs, and also designed a welcome sign that was displayed in the lobby.
This year, their first group project was decorating the second-floor art hallway with an autumnal, Halloween theme – many students have seen the brown paper trees swathing the hallway’s ubiquitous red Harriton columns. However, because school was closed on Halloween due to Hurricane Sandy, the club could not show off their project, and they now plan to transform the hall into a winter wonderland. Future projects include sidewalk chalking in the courtyard and stenciling T-shirts.
Club members love Art Club because it’s a great way to meet new friends and students who share their interests.
Laure Krumenacker, a senior, said, “Art Club is a place where people who feel like they’re abnormal or different, like they don’t belong, can come together. You get to work on your art and perfect it.”
Freshman, Desire Bennett, agreed. She said that because Harriton is such a large school, it is difficult to find people who share an enthusiasm for art without the help of Art Club.
To sum it all up, Art Club is a space for kids to relax and be themselves.Every Wednesday until 4:30, students go to Mrs. Carter’s RAM to socialize, create art, and to get a load off their back after a long day.
