Whether you are a seasoned artist or have just recently picked up a paintbrush, the Canvas Club provides a great opportunity to foster creativity and strengthen artistic skills. The club teaches students about different topics related to art, after which they are provided with materials to express themselves creatively.
“We try to bring together artists of different backgrounds and different experience levels to come together and paint,” said Ashleigh Reed, a fourth-year in criminology and the club’s current president. “I decided to make it a club because there are not many art clubs on campus.”
The club, which is intended to bring students together and teach about different topics related to art, has personal significance for Reed.
“Painting is a huge outlet for me,” Reed said. “It was kind of a way to express myself and I wanted to bring that into NC State and have other students express themselves. We try to bring together artists of different backgrounds and experience levels to come together and paint things they’ve never painted before.”
The meetings, which are led by Reed, sometimes have a structured topic and lesson, such as symbolism or pop art, but other times members are able to paint whatever they wish. In addition to providing a way for students to learn about different topics related to painting, the club also provides a way for busy students to fit some creativity into their day.
Lauren Malynowsky, a third-year in exploratory studies and treasurer of the club, spoke about her time with the group.
“For me it’s been kind of a struggle to set aside time to actually do art,” Malynowsky said. “It’s kind of a stress reliever for me, and with homework and stuff I just kind of forget to do it, so now I have a chunk of time in the week, built in, for me to actually do art.”
The varying topics each week also allowed students to expand their creativity further by exploring new forms of expression.
“I tend to paint one thing that I like and that I’m good at and then I don’t move past that,” Malynowsky said. “We’re going to do landscapes, portraits and stuff like that soon. I don’t ever do any of that, so it actually pushes me to get better.”
For some members, the ability to regularly practice art is beneficial not only for mental health, but also for their desired career path.
“The Canvas Club allows me to get a foundation in the fine arts, which then builds up skills… and makes you better overall,” said Noah Weaver, a third-year in exploratory studies. “It’s also inspirational and creative; I’ve gotten a lot of good ideas from this and the props that we’ve been given.”
For Reed, the best part of facilitating the meetings was being able to see students develop not only as artists, but as individuals.
“It’s definitely rewarding to watch them grow,” Reed said. “You see the very first thing they do and then you teach them things; it’s nice to see them surpass the goals that they had before and learn more about themselves.”
Although Reed is graduating, she hopes the club will continue its impact.
“I have a certain way that I run things, but I do want it to go on after I graduate, since I made it,” Reed said. “We’re definitely looking for ways to expose ourselves to the art community in general, as well as to the NC State community.”
The club has dues of $10 for each semester, which helps to cover the materials needed for each class. Interested members should contact Ashleigh Reed at areed2@ncsu.edu. The club also has an active Instagram page.
