In the quiet corners of OH, the National Art Honor Society (NAHS) is doing more than just making art: they are turning their passion into a way to give back and build a stronger community.
According to OH senior and NAHS President Leona Bateman, “[NAHS] is basically just a group of dedicated art students that want to give back to the art community through community service and just creating opportunities and an outlet to create.”
Sponsored by the National Art Education Association, NAHS is driven by student vision and leadership, and the club thrives on individual creativity turned to a community connection.
An upcoming art show for which NAHS is getting ready is the Chicagoland 4×5 Art Exhibition on Nov. 4.
This large-scale regional student art exhibition includes submitted pieces of artwork which are confined to the dimension of 4 inches by 5 inches.
“We have the 4 by 5 art show coming up soon, and that’s not just for the art honors society, but a lot of the art students are in it,” explained Bateman. “The whole thought process behind it is art doesn’t have to be this huge thing to be important or special or to, like, be creative or something that you can make. It’s basically just a less intimidating version to get your work out there.”
Part of getting one’s work out there is in gaining a community connection through the student-led NAHS group, which OH Fine Arts Department Chair and NAHS sponsor Michael Skura said is key.
“[NAHS] is very student led. I would say 99.99% led,” Skura said. “I’m there to just do work orders, make sure they’re on timeline, share information when volunteer opportunities happen. I’m there just as a facilitator, a manager. Making sure they have the supplies, and, you know, transportation, or means to make their things happen.”
Skura’s favorite memory from NAHS was the first time a student, past NAHS President Ailish Cooper, actually took on that leadership role.
“She’s an art teacher now… named the Illinois Art Educator of the Year several years ago. She teaches art over at Plainfield South [High School] She was the first person to take over the society and really take charge and I didn’t have to manage,” Skura recalled. “I could actually go in the other room and just be a resource.”
With that kind of leadership, NAHS became a more student-led organization, according to Skura.
For current students interested in joining NAHS, they must take an art class as a requirement and must meet club standards to join.
“They get a special invite if they take an art class,” Skura shared, “and they show a strong aptitude for creativity and love of arts, and success in the arts. They get an invite by their art teacher, then they have to write a one page essay about what the society means to them, and how they will help with the society.”
NAHS usually attend art fairs, and set up a stand where they’ll tell people about the art programs at OH and display art for patrons to view.
OH senior member of NAHS Prisha Gupta said, “Recently we had our most interesting stand set up in an art fair sometime in September I believe where we had an art display in the back and tables, art supplies, and chairs set up front for people to just come, do some art, and take it home. It was perfect because art plays such a huge role in our society and to see so much unique art inspires other people to create.”
Overall the club has many different styles of art.
“The club is kind of a big group of a bunch of different artists. So there’s people who use textiles, there’s painters, there’s people who use graphic arts. We have photographers, people who do pottery. Whereas, the classes are just one specific medium,” said Bateman.
Many art students join based on the shared connection of the passion for art. Gupta said, “I’m super into art and I wanted to be around people that share the same hobby and passion!”
As Bateman says, “It’s nice because we have a group of kids that are all interested in art, but they all have their own, different, unique story”
Hi, my name is Peyton. I'm a junior in highschool and it's my first year on staff. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication.
