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BHSN Digital Arts Society
The Bloomington High School North (BHSN) Digital Arts Society
==Introduction==
The Digital Arts Society at Bloomington High School North is a club which centers on exposing students to various forms of digital art. The Digital Arts Society, or DArtS, is a member guided club; the students involved in the organization determine its goals and direction. Meetings are held every other Wednesday and every other Seminar at BHSN.
Contents
What is digital art?
To understand DArtS completely, it is necessary to be aware of what digital art is. Digital art is, put simply, any form of art done using the computer and/or other forms of technology. Digital art does not use traditional media (i.e. canvas, sketchpads) as its basis. Instead, it utilizes computer drawing programs. As well, artists can scan hand drawings and convert them into digital form to work with. Digital art can be either 2D or 3D in nature, and includes computer animation as well. The BHSN Digital Arts Society makes an effort to bring its members into contact with all types of digital art and uses diverse methods to create pieces of art, such as those mentioned above.
History
Founding of the Club
The Digital Arts Society was founded by North students Tim Glissman and Brittney Stewart. They wanted a club that would give students experience in digital art, something that no other North club offered at the time. During the 2005-2006 school year, Glissman and Stewart started the club with the help of BHSN Technical Assistant Simón Ruiz.
The First Year
In its first year, the club had few regular members due to a lack of knowledge about the club among the student body. As well, both Glissman and Stewart eventually left North, leaving Rebecca Luzier in charge as the new president. She said the job was given to her “out of the blue” one day during lunch. After the members reorganized themselves, the club was able to get back on its feet and prepare a slide show presentation for BHSN's Evening of the Arts. They plan to do this ever year from now on.
Current Activities
With the start of the 2006-2007 school year, DArtS set out with a much better outlook. Luzier leads, organizes, and keeps order in the club, focusing its energies on projects. Their artistic goals are to introduce members to new computer art programs. Luzier describes it as getting people “out of their comfort zone,” with exposure to new types of digital art. One of the club's current projects is a T-shirt design which will carry a club logo. Members have been asked to create concept designs which will be voted on by the main group.
==DArtS Meetings==
The club's meetings are held in the BHSN library computer lab, with Luzier standing at the dry-erase board for most of the meeting. As well, she is a senior and will be graduating with the Class of 2007. The club decided to have, instead of one president, a triumvirate of presidents for the 2007-2008 school year. Ruiz feels the club will continue in future years, as long as it can keep on track with its goals.
During meetings members of the club discuss future projects such as Evening of the Arts, in addition to subjects at hand for the day. Meetings are informal, with Ruiz maintaining a “hands-off approach” in the club. As he provides an “official standing with the school,” Ruiz makes sure that meeting times are arranged and announced, but he leaves content up to the members. Since the club is meant to be a place of interchange for all digital art students, no experience is necessary. An interested student merely has to show up to be a member. The only requirement is for the student to come willing to work and help out the club as a whole. Individual art projects as well as group tasks are available to participating members. The club is flexible with what club members do and how it is done. The usual attendance for a club meeting is nine. If the BHSN lab is unavailable, DArtS meets in Ruiz's office. With attendance solid at meetings and a constant agenda at hand, the club continues to move forward towards its goals.
Source Information
Luzier, Rebecca. Personal interview. 26 Jan 2007.
Ruiz, Simón. Personal interview. 02 Feb 2007.
