After unveiling their chalk box, or “the cube” as they lovingly refer to it, Art Club has become a trending topic of conversation on campus. Last week, most students spotted the brightly decorated box between the Alumni Memorial Union and Schroder Hall. In many cases, students stopped by to contribute to it themselves.
The cube was removed on Monday, but it managed to brighten the days of the student body, and serve as inspiration. Mae Haggerty, a junior in the College of Business, first spotted the box while looking for motivation in her Media Writing class.
“I used to be really interested in art, and when I saw (the cube), I thought ‘oh, this is really interesting,’” Haggerty said. “It made me want to get involved in art again.”
She said that with her busy schedule, it can be difficult to prioritize creative outlets. However, she said that she cites the Art Club’s efforts as motivation to continue pursuing artistic endeavors.
With appearances on student Snapchat and Instagram feeds, the cube was a public relations success for the Art Club. However, as Julia Floreani, the club head and junior in the College of Health Sciences, said, publicity was a secondary goal. When laying out their plans for this year’s Organizations Fest, both Floreani, and her co-head MaryRose Weatherton, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences, decided that their main goal for the semester would be to introduce more collaborative pieces to which the campus community can contribute. That’s when they devised their plan for the cube.
Floreani described the cube as “a culmination of an idea, hard work, and a few pieces of scrap plywood.” Weatherton claims the cube’s message “Everyone is an Artist” has acted as a sort of thesis for the organization since its formation.
“We’ve seen such great art from all of our members, no matter what their majors or interests are, which has definitely supported our theory,”Floreani said. “We also love seeing what people can make together, so the cube was a great collaborative art piece that I think really captured Marquette’s vibe.”
The Art Club held its first meeting in a “humble” room checked out of Olin Engineering Hall. Soon after the meeting, students were “spilling out into the hall area,” as more and more prospective members showed up to hone their artistic skills. Despite the surprising numbers in attendance, the Art Club maintains their promise to provide supplies and space free of charge.
Floreani said that the cube itself “resembles a prolonged Art Club meeting– we supply the materials, the artist supplies the creativity.”
This semester, Art Club has teamed up with a campus project entitled The Art of Marquette. As the project explains on its Facebook page, its goal is simple, “to create and share a community of like-minded artists throughout our campus.”
