The Arts and Crafts Club is one of dozens on Aliso’s campus, engaging students in monthly lunch meetings in Mrs. Stillings’ room, each focusing on a different artistic activity.
The club was formed this year by co-presidents Miyako Cros (11) and Abby Pomery (11). Their other officers include Vice President Ulyana Tsetsulnikova (12) and Secretary Bethany Cheng (11).
Cros and Pomery formed the club by merging the Craft Club and the Fine Artists’ Society, their respective clubs from last year.
Pomery says, “We had found a bit of struggle in managing both of our clubs individually, and we realized a partnership of arts and crafts, which were two skill sets we both had knowledge of, would create a more successful club and allow us to become more collaborative. We both had an interest in giving a place for artists on campus.”
Both Pomery and Cros noted their shared enjoyment of arts and crafts, as well as their desire to create a space dedicated to helping others enjoy it. With so many students on campus interested in the activities, meetings are often packed with engaged and active Wolverines partaking in each session’s craft.
“They’re meant to be very basic, but fun at the same time,” says Cros. “[They’re] things that you can start off with very few skills, but you can actually expand and grow on.”
The club not only gathers students who are already interested in or have experience with crafts, but also seeks to educate newcomers and teach them new and useful artistic skills. The emphasis on education and skill development is part of the club’s popularity — anyone can join at any time, regardless of experience.
Due to the elaborate nature of some of the crafts that the club does, they often meet at lunch across multiple consecutive days to accommodate for the necessary time.
Cros says, “Projects like needle felting [are] almost impossible to do in one lunch meeting, and having just one lunch meeting to teach something was very restricting. So that’s why it was very helpful to have consecutive meetings.”
The meetings often include a short presentation on a specific craft, with instructions on how to start, but then allows members time to work on individual projects.
Bella Rodriguez (11) says of the club, “I think it’s great. I like that it offers so much creative liberty.”
Their recent set of meetings, held Feb. 26 and 27, focused on painting paper fans with watercolor. Simple yet engaging crafts like this are typical of the club’s activities, as previous sessions have included needle felting and making shrink art for keychains.
“People just really enjoy having this time dedicated exclusively to just relaxing,” Cros notes, “[for] taking your mind off of school work, hanging out with your friends and working with your hands.”
As a crucial part of school culture, the Arts and Crafts Club has evolved since its inception and will likely continue to do so in order to engage a wider swath of the student body.
Pomery says, “I would love to involve more skilled artists so we can give them a platform on campus to kind of showcase and highlight [them].”
The varied and original activities of the club attract a range of students, helping secure a more vibrant and engaged population here at Aliso.
