Led by Ms. Nicole Lavely, Art Club is a place where students from all walks of life come together to create art. Using different material and methods, every third Wednesday of the month students are challenged to embrace their artistic creativity and go outside of their comfort zone to produce a masterpiece.

Ana Pham, junior, believes that the greatest part of art club is being with her friends in a nonjudgmental zone where you can make art and just be happy.

“You can talk about anything you want there. If you have an issue, you can talk about it there,” said Pham. “It’s like a therapy club along with an art club and it’s the greatest feeling ever. It is a safe place.”

With a new project every month, Ms. Lavely helps to inspire the students to use different mediums and adapt to new styles. Not only do the artists create personal art for themselves, they engage in projects that support and comfort other students around the school.

“When I decided to become an art teacher I told myself that had to have an art club because I never got to be apart of one because my school didn’t have one. I hoped that it would increase the passion for artmaking within students and create an art-making community here at Taylorsville High School,” said Ms. Nicole Lavely.

“It’s an amazing place. At first, I didn’t want to join, but Ms. Nicole and my friends were just really inviting and it’s a comforting place. Art club is amazing,” said Pham.

“It’s a very welcoming environment considering everyone is very inclusive of new members and very welcoming to just everyone in general,” said Steven Accero, senior.

“Art club has helped me establish meaningful relationships with my students so that I can be a better teacher. It has also given me the chance to engage in art making myself,” said Lavely. “As a working studio artist and teacher, it can be hard to find a balance of teaching and creating and art club has given me moments to create art freely.”

If you just want to come and make art and have fun, art club is for you. If you need a safe space to hang out after school, art club is for you.

“[The students]  have taught me that there are endless ways to create art and that it’s important as a growing artist to learn and experience as many ways as you can. By having this club, I have been pushed to learn new methods so that I can introduce them to my students,” said Lavely.