By Diana Kesablyan
From Robotics, to DECA, to the marching band, Granada Hills Charter (GHC) has always welcomed creative and talented students to express themselves. Although some may feel that the activities that GHC encourages are exclusively academic and rigorous, this is not always the case. The Art Hub is a club that allows students a peaceful and social environment, a place where student-artists can surround themselves with other artists to share their works and discuss their passions.
“The Art Hub is important because it is the only club that provides a space dedicated for visual artists. It provides a space for artists to interact with one another, make art, learn about possible scholarships, and study the ins-and-outs of different industries involving the arts,” senior and president of the Art Hub Andrew Luna said.
As a project initially launched by International Baccalaureate (IB) students for their Community, Action, Service (CAS) project a couple years ago, it aimed to essentially create a “hub” for students to meet and collaboratively discuss art of various forms.
Although it is a very social setting, the Hub also serves to help students. Introducing new techniques of art, or new artists to admire, and even helping students build artistic portfolios, the club’s weekly Friday meetings are extremely valuable to anyone who may need some artistic guidance.
“Aside from the occasional tutorial, I think that the main factor that keeps the members returning is the calm social environment. I have enjoyed the opportunity to meet many people that I wouldn’t have met if it weren’t for the club and I love seeing the way other people view the world and demonstrate it through their art,” junior Milo Haro said.
With this amazing resource at hand, the Art Hub has provided GHC artists the opportunity to build meaningful relationships and learn from each other to expand upon their own interests and passions. This begs us to realize the importance of creative outlets in such academically competitive environments. Although the visual and performing arts department’s classes encourage artistic presentation through graded work, the Art Hub is particularly unique in its environment and the constructive freedom it provides its students.
“Ultimately in high school we start to realize who we are, or want to be. I think students need every opportunity to explore those ideas, and be in safe environments to do so. It helps when there are peers who are supportive, and like-minded. We have to find ‘our tribe’ to survive. Clubs like this, sports teams (for those that make it), and all the creative classes (band, choir, dance, theater) allow a different space for vulnerability and honesty, where the best kind of growth and friendships can happen,” club advisor and VAPA teacher Stefani Thomas said.
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