Art teacher Mandy Knight donates a little bit of her time after school so that students can work on art together. Because of school funding cutbacks, they are not able to support a functioning art club. Still, Knight hopes to inspire her kids in the same way that she was inspired as an art student.

“Art is so important,” Knight said. “It helps people think creatively and helps with problem solving.”

Two years ago, there was an art club that had been running for 20 years until it was cut due to budget cuts. Due to this, students didn’t have the option to participate in an official school art club. Students like juniors Eve Abuazza and Karen Pete, who both have a very strong passion about art, did not have the same opportunity that previous students in past years had recieved. So, after school they, along with other students started working on murals in the art hallway with Knight.

“Art is an expression of myself,” Abuazza said. “I do art to relax.”

Even though they are able to stay after, they still don’t get the benefits of what being in an art club would be able to provide. However, Knight is still optimistic that an official art club will return in the future. She has a lot of ideas for what this future art club could look like. They could go see other people’s art at galleries and do community showings to display student artwork. She has also thought about bringing back the memory project. This project involved drawing pictures of kids from third-world countries.

“Everyone should try art because I feel like it’s not really appreciated in our day and age, but it’s a really good way to express yourself,” Abuazza said.