Art – it is all around us, in the hallways at school, on the buildings and statues or sculptures in downtown historic Erie. But Erie High’s Art Club is not strictly about art.  It is an opportunity for social time, fundraising campaigns, and putting each individual’s creative images and ideas into reality.

Currently the Art Club at Erie High is doing a fundraiser for their group. “We are currently making art pins to sell as a fundraiser in the future. We don’t currently have enough of a collection to sell them, and we still need to figure out the logistics with the office to set up a time/place to sell the pins,” says Renita Orellana, the teacher sponsoring the Art Club.

Keira Perkins, a member of the club, adds, “We are going to sell any and every kind of pin. Those creating the pins have complete free range with what they draw, as long as its school is appropriate of course. I know that there are a lot of pins with pronouns, LGBTQ identities, memes, popular characters, and cute animals on them.”

Emma Allen, another member, says, “Our goal is to raise enough money for the club to be able to go to MeowWolf: an art and entertainment company. The money from our fundraisers typically go to art supplies for the club, or for us to go to museums and stuff like that.”

Orellana shared the same sentiment as Allen, “The students would like to use the money to buy new art supplies, have a pizza party, or buy tickets to go to MeowWolf.  If we get enough money we can organize a group trip.”

Allen says, “In the Art Club, we pretty much just socialize and do art. There’s no assigned work, or guided material. You just work on whatever you want to work on. We occasionally do optional projects such as the pins, but you’re never forced to do anything.” Emma also noted, “I really like the freedom that you’re given to work on whatever you’d like.”

Art club is a great way to get everyone to come together and create art, meet new people, and overall an inviting environment for anyone to come to. Perkins says, “I like that it’s a calm environment where you can hangout with your friends, while having access to a lot of really cool art supplies. It’s also nice to have little to no restrictions to what you can create unlike an actual art class.”

 For anyone who would like to join, the Art Club meets after school each week on Tuesdays from 2:45 – 3:45pm