If you were at Club Rush at the beginning of the year, you might have noticed the Southern Lehigh Art and Literary Club. Art and Lit club allows students to share their creations and ideas with others through their annual magazine. This club is for those who love to draw, write, or compose and wish to share it with others.
Art and Lit club meets on Day 2 during Spartan Period, and with 30 members, they ensure that the magazine is filled with a variety of interesting and inspiring pieces. Each day the club meets, the two co-presidents, juniors Evon Kamel and Sydney Young, give out an optional creative prompt for students to respond to. These prompts include ideas like “Write/create a piece about your life but in a different time period” or “A New Path (a theme to inspire your creations).”
“People can submit drawings, paintings, photographs, poems, short stories, excerpts of short stories, essays, articles, and speeches,” said English teacher and club adviser, Mrs. Kelly Howsare.
The club was founded nearly ten years ago and was run by English teacher Mrs. Sheryl Ciotti. When Mrs. Ciotti transferred to the middle school nearly two years ago, Mrs. Howsare took over, and continued to provide opportunities for students to show off their talents. The club is now full of inspired students.
“A lot of things changed because Mrs. Howsare, Evon, and I had never run the club before. We had to learn how to run it and keep students engaged.” said three-year member and co-president Sydney Young, who experienced the changes firsthand.
The Art and Lit club will be hosting a coffee house on April 24th from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the high school cafeteria. All the projects that students have submitted for the magazine will be displayed for people to see, along with various presentations and performances from artists. People are welcome to sign up to perform music at the coffee house. One of these performers will be club advisor, Mrs. Howsare doing a dance performance to kick off the event. Other performers are signing up to sing, dance, or play an instrument. The event will boost publicity for the club, and the talent of these artists.
“It’s a night where people can read poetry, sing songs, play music, display art, eat snacks, and drink coffee,” Young said.
While many of the submissions are from people within the club, non-members are always encouraged to turn in their work for publication. Submissions were due by February 28th to be included in this year’s magazine. There is no set date for distribution, but editors are working hard to make the best publication possible.
If you are interested in participating, look for posters around the school. Even if you do not submit a piece, community members are still welcome to attend the coffee house on Thursday, April 24th to see the club’s amazing creations and experience the talent of fellow students.
