VCHS art club - inspiring student creativity
Paint brushes working away on canvases, pencils scratching on different types of paper, clay being wedged on the floor — these are the sounds you hear in Mrs. Krueger’s art classroom daily.
Students can pursue their passions and even teach their peers on the art they enjoy making at the twice-monthly art club, usually hosted Tuesdays and Thursdays in the art room on Valley City High School campus. There are approximately 30 students who attend. To join art club all you have to do is either be in a regular art class or show up to a meeting and you’re in. The theme of the club changes monthly.
Gore and blood aren’t to everyone's taste, but October is a special exception, where a Special Effects Make Up class teaches students how to make the most ghastly burns, cuts, and bruises. If you were to stop in during the month of December you’d get to see them busy working away on the Christmas Tree Raffle ornaments.
“My favorite thing about art club is that you have the freedom to choose what to do,” Nick Lemier, a senior, says. “I also enjoy all of the projects that Mrs. Krueger assigns for us during the holidays. My favorite is definitely the special effects make-up and I look forward to doing it each year.”
Every student who comes to art club gets the opportunity to work on projects they were doing in class or they can work on the project that has been preselected. Oftentimes open studio is the option that is available at least once a month so students can continue to work on anything art related that they would like to, such as in class projects or even the project that was presented at the last meeting.
“I’ve been in art club for 4 years now and I personally enjoy getting to experiment with different forms of creativity,” Emmalee Jones said. “My favorite thing that we have done was the Bob Ross Painting night
we did with Mrs. Callahan that was hosted by former student Katy Meester.”
Earlier this school year the senior class went to Valley City State University for an art club meeting to try out plaster hand casting. The students learned about the science behind the alginate, which is what helps your mold keep its shape, and the plaster, which was poured into the mold. They were left to set for about a week and then the students got to carve them out of the alginate leaving them with almost perfect detail of what the person’s hands look like.
“I thought it was fun to try out a new medium that was not available in the art room and I really liked that I was able to customize it after it was cut out,” Bailee Stockert , a senior, said.
For more information on art club please contact Mrs. Krueger by emailing her at Stephani. Krueger@k12.nd.us or by stopping into her classroom.