By Theresa O’Connor and Taylor Conley
One of Tempe Prep’s mottos is beauty. Beauty is a combination of qualities such as shape, color and form that pleasures the aesthetic senses, especially the sight.
But obviously beauty can be defined in many different ways. On Saturday, Jan. 13, the Art Club took its first ever field trip to Papago Park and each student painted their own aspect of beauty. Whether it was the mountain where many people hiked or the lake which several people fished in, the Art Club members all painted beautiful landscapes. During the session, students were able to paint and feel the lovely environment around them.
Papago Park is a large piece of land covering almost 1,500 acres. It is a nice place to hike, fish and, of course, do art! The Art Club sat by the Community Fishing Lake and painted what they saw. The scenery was nice, with the sounds of birds nearby. Students enjoyed painting with acrylics or watercolor.
As the students have many different views of beauty, we had a few personal favorite scenes that we thought represented beauty. The first thing that caught our eyes was the huge mountain where loads of visitors hiked and could sit in the opening at the top. It was eye-catching because of the unique form and the amount of people who were hiking it.
Another aspect in the park was the lake. The lake looked and felt very serene and peaceful. It had multiple trees and bushes which added a variety of colors and contrast to our paintings. Lastly, an aspect of beauty was the massive hiking trail. Not only did the rock sculptures along the hiking path make perfect family photos, the trail consisted of various plants that you only see in Arizona, such as cacti. Papago Park had so many fluorescent scenes that made the whole park a delightful experience.
Alumna Jasmine Antony from the graduating class of 2016 accompanied the Art Club to Papago Park. She attends Tufts University in Massachusetts and majors in Chemical Engineering. At TPA, she was in Art Club with Mr. Chapin when the club was more informal. Later, Mr. Savaglio made the club more official. Jasmine also designed the 2016 yearbook cover which was the Art Club’s first official project. At Papago Park, she said, “I enjoyed focusing on the natural beauty of Arizona, and I liked the freedom to draw or paint whatever I felt like.”
In September 2015 the Art Club was officially started by Mr. Savaglio, one of two of TPA’s art teachers. The club started with 7 to 8 members, but now has as many as 17. Though it varies, other clubs and sports can conflict. Mr. Savaglio says, “Art Club is to increase ability (in art), and allows Art Club members to explore materials they can’t within TPA’s curriculum.”
Art Club is especially helpful for 10th and 11th graders who are interested in art but don’t get to do it those years. Art Club allows us to use artistically talented students to beautify the school. The Art Club has painted Creation of Adam and Starry Night and is planning three new murals for this year. Due to mural painting, Mr. Savaglio strongly considers having Art Club on Tuesdays and sometimes Saturdays in addition to Thursdays.
The Art Club is great for artistically talented students looking for art-related things to do. You’ll be able to see at least two more murals by the end of the year. If anyone is interested, Art Club meets every Thursday after school in the German room.
