Sebastian Chang ’18 sold this piece at the Art Drive on February 12.
On Monday, February 12, Art Club held an Art Drive in the dining hall. The booth was set up in front of the fireplace, in the center of student life. The drive began at 5:00 pm and lasted until 7:30 pm. There were crowds of students and faculty lining up to buy posters, pins, stickers, and t-shirts. The prices of the works varied from one dollar to 20 dollars.
The Art Drive has been in the works since the fall, serving as the culmination of Art Club members’ two terms. Co-President Sebastian Chang ’18 says, “Art Drive was a silly name I came up with. When Tommy Ren and I took over the club, it was not very active, there were not a lot of members, and we were not sure where it was heading. But we wanted to get the members more active in making art, no matter their skill level. We wanted people to see art put together. At first we did exhibitions, but then the idea of a fundraiser came to me.” Chang ’18 recalls, “I went back to our room one day and I said to Tommy ‘let’s do a fundraiser.’ He said ‘what are we going to call it?’ and so I started making random names.”
Art Club recently started taking commissions, making things like stickers of lizards and t-shirt designs for Stranger Things. These topics were all part of the fundraiser due to their popularity on campus. Joanna Ding ’19 says, “We sold out a lot of the pieces leftover from last year and this year. We ask the club members for submissions since the fall term. We want work that is original, does not violate copyright restrictions, and is also in line with the student handbook. But to be honest it was really about the time we had and the supplies we had.” The club had access to sticker and poster printers. Ding says, “You don’t have to be amazing at art to submit to the Art Drive. We want variety, creativity, and diversity.”
When asked why students should support the Drive she says, “When I came to Choate I saw that the various groups on campus received a lot of support from the student body. Art Drive is the same. We worked extremely hard and so did the artists. It takes almost an entire year to prepare this event. I think it’s the best feeling when people come and support our hard work.” Co-president Tommy Ren ’18 adds, “Unless you are taking an art class or are a part of Art’s Concentration, you don’t really get to do art or show it to other people. Choate is also a place where, sometimes, you don’t have time to do the things you want to do. That is what happened to me junior year. I was so busy that I did not get time to work on my art, but I feel like if someone had just said to me ‘hey, that was pretty cool,’ I would have been more motivated to continue with it.” Ren ’18 adds, “Art Drive is encouraging. I think the more support artists get, the more people will pursue this path of visual arts.”
The Art Drive is an annual event that brings together the Choate community. There are talks of another Art Drive in the spring, so be on the lookout for any announcements and make sure to attend the club’s weekly meetings to be a part of the event.
