Art Honor Society creates a puzzle and other new art-centered activities

Lilly Johnson and Celia Smithmier, president and vice-president of NAHS respectively, decided for the induction ceremony that each member would be given a two-by-two inch puzzle piece that he or she would decorate to represent their medium and aesthetic. “Luckily, we found the puzzle online, and we just decided instead of doing the typical induction ceremony with the candles, we wanted to do something fun,” Smithmier said.

All students in NAHS created a unique puzzle piece, and the art teachers at Benilde-St. Margaret’s have decorated the leftover pieces. Johnson and Smithmier will then paint smaller pieces black and they will use them to create a border for the large puzzle. The puzzle will represent every member coming together through their shared interest in art. “I think the puzzle is cool because it can be symbolic; in a way, it is joining up all the different kinds of art,” Johnson said.

Many members used markers and pens to as their medium but some artists used creative supplies such as oil paint, cloth, and photos. The designs on the white puzzle pieces included many things such as sharpie drawings of mandalas, a photo collage of cats, and watercolor landscapes. The pieces will come together to create a full picture of the club at the November meeting.

One unique puzzle piece was decorate by Kathryn Sohm. The junior and first-year NAHS member decided to paint a the of a girl’s face in pop art style. “Last year it [pop art] was my favorite style when I took my painting class,” Sohm said.

Sohm, one of the few members to use acrylic paint, enjoyed the opportunity to participate in this unique activity. “It was really fun because they are going to put [the puzzle] up in the basement. It will be really cool to see what everyone has done and all the different styles,” Sohm said.

Senior Nia Garrett, who decorated her puzzle with fabric, glued an old sock that has a watercolor pattern on it. “Originally I was going to cover it in film but I had a glue mishap so I wanted to do something else. I usually take photos in black and white but I decided to use color this time; it was blue, pink, and purple,” Garret said.

Johnson and Smithmier have many plans for the future that involve creating art at the monthly meetings and organizing events. NAHS requires each member to participate in some art-related activity each year, such as visiting a museum. Smithmier hopes that the group can participate in a few fundraisers and auctions where the students can donate art to charitable causes.

One recent activity that represents the leader’s’ goal of creating art was the blind art activity lead by art teacher Ms. Leah Klister during the October meeting. “Last meeting we did a blind art activity that Ms. Klister led, you had to look at your partner’s face and not look at your paper and draw. that was fun and people seemed to really enjoy it,” Smithmier said.

This giant puzzle is the first of many activities that the NAHS leaders hope to create throughout the year and each of their monthly meetings. This is in reaction to last year’s mainly critique-based meetings that got negative feedback from returning members. “[We aim to do] actual art things rather than just talking about art and discussing it,” Johnson said.