Gracie Hornbaker
Features Editor
Art club is the perfect place for anyone at Orono Senior High to socialize, eat pastries and try out different sorts of art activities. Members of the club don’t have to have any art experience or talent. Students organize, plan and run the meetings while art teacher, Jayne Hudgins, oversees the club.
“I am interested in art and I had a few friends that were in it. It’s always better when there are friends in it because it kind of feels like a community of people who are passionate about art,” junior Katherine Scott said.
Hudgins had not always planned on having an art club. Originally, a student came to Hudgins with the idea to start up a club. From the beginning, the art club has been student-driven and it has stayed this way. Even though it has grown over the years, it has become increasingly difficult to find students who have time to put into the club.
“[In the past] The students had a little better of an attitude and we had more time to do things. It seems like today everybody’s stressed with their AP classes and their jobs and they just don’t have as much time after school to be involved,” Hudgins said.
Members meet once a month during spartan hour. They also try to go on field trips whenever the opportunity arises. Highpoint Monoprinting and the Minnesota Institute of Art are places that the club has gone in the past, and they plan to return this year.
“I think the club part of being in the club is the school part and the extracurricular part is being out of school. So, sure, you can say that I liked doing that the high point printmaking stuff because I was nice because, you know, we actually had time to do that” junior Priscilla Cole said.
Every meeting is announced through the club’s Schoology page, and in recent years the club started making most of their announcements through Instagram. Junior Garrett Pesch is running the account this year. Fewer students check their email updates, so they have found that most members are able to be reached through Instagram.
During the meetings, students have the opportunity to socialize and eat pastries before the craft is introduced. Art club has to be run very efficiently since they are limited in time to work on their art activities, so thirty minutes of the meeting is dedicated to working. Many artists know that thirty minutes is not a long time to complete an art piece.
“We try to keep the craft somewhat simple so that we can finish them. More people are interested in simple crafts,” Pesch said.
With so little time during school, getting off campus is a difficult task for Hudgins to plan. Every time they do an activity outside of the school day, there is an extensive amount of work to do to make the activity happen. Sometimes, amazing activities are missed out on because of the inability to take time out of school days to experience art or field trips. This year the group had an opportunity to visit the Northrup King art studio. Although, the group was unable to attend because there weren’t enough members who were able to attend after school.
Art club members who commit to the club get to experience and achieve great things. Students who participate in six or more meetings and events have the opportunity to submit their work the MSHSL competitions. Art club members also have the opportunity to letter.
“My personal favorite is when we get to give out the lettering awards and when we get to go together to the State High School League. That is usually the high point of the year,” Hudgins said.
The future of the art club is in the hands of the students. Hudgins hopes that when students want there to be a change that they bring it up to the leaders.