GCC Art club got the attention of Happy Valleys North Campus as their club expands its reaches. Last Thursday on January 24th Glendale Community College’s Art Club–organized by Mitchel Mantel and led by Katie Cao went to the North campus to hang up their works at their art gallery. The club is excited to continue expanding their reach and include more of GCC’s artists (major or not) into their cause of making the campus more creative.
This is the club’s first movement of the new semester. Last semester they elected new officers to bring the group forward for the 2023-2024 school year. The new team worked on doing a campaign for unbanning books in the library and designed their own logo. The Art Club has been in circulation for a couple years now. Steven Turco, secretary of the club sat down with me to chat about its functions and about the recent movement the clubs have been having.
He proceeded to explain how the club is run. Katie will suggest projects for the coming months and the entire club will vote and brainstorm different ideas to keep interest sparked. The environment is always changing; adapting to the new faces of artists that come and go each meeting. “It’s something any artist can hop in and enjoy” Steven insists. Currently the club isn’t just stopping at north campus. The club’s overarching goal of the semester is to create an artist magazine “Zine” , he called it; showcasing GCC’s artists every week. It’s a smash hit that’s intrigued everyone on the team. Another side project the club hopes to complete is to draw card prompts created each meeting in each artist’s style. These cards will be exchanged between artists of the club like its own bartering system.
Steven proceeds to state “Whether it be through networking or encouraging each other on our path to improve as artists, The GCC art club is something we hope continues to grow and grow even after our departure.” The art club is still open and welcoming to all students who want to be included. You don’t just have to be an art major either! Though Professor Mantel runs the schools drawing and life drawing classes Steven insists all artists are welcome to participate. They meet every Thursday at 12p.m to 2p.m. For more information it is recommended to contact Mitchell Mantel at his email mitchell.mantle@gccaz.edu or get in touch with the club’s leaders! Who knows what more unexpected adventures the club will experience until then.
Oh wow! The art club and all of their activities sound really enjoyable. It must have been exciting for the club members to find a place to hang up some of their artwork on the North Campus. I do not make physical pieces often as an artist, so I would have been honored to have an opportunity like that. I wonder if the club has considered having an online gallery or social media accounts to do something similar.
They sound like a proactive club with the activities and campaigns they have held around campus. Keeping a campaign about banned books is impressive to me. At the same time, the club seems casual and welcoming too. The article explains that new faces are seen in each meeting, and others come and go. I can only imagine the different types of people one could meet if they regularly attend the club.
Their Zine and prompt project seem like a joy to participate in. It reminds me of art trades and cool projects that I see online. I always love to see what others can make, and this environment sounds like a great way to meet other creatives. Especially since it is a club, it’s a chance for people of similar interests but different majors to talk.