Art Student League

As members of the Lyon College Art Student League it is our purpose/mission "to create a better community through art, events, and activities." As family, friends, and patrons of art and students involved with the Art Student League you understand the importance of community and education with art. Our membership is open to all students and faculty of Lyon College. The events and activities that we sponsor are open not just to the Lyon College community, but to the Batesville and surrounding community. We expose members of our organization and our community to art with a few different approaches.

Art Trips: Our trips are to locations across Arkansas so that students can see how diverse and well developed the art community is in their own state and how they can be a part of it. We regularly visit art institutions in the state including Crystal Bridges, the 21C Museum Hotel, Good Weather Gallery in Little Rock, the Arkansas Arts Center, and more.

Student Work: The art department at Lyon has many talented students, and it is important to show off our students' works. Showing our own student work not only gives the audience a chance to see art, but it also provides our artists with important opportunities for experience in talking about and selling their art.

• Pop Up Art Shows: We are implementing a new way to expose our own students work to the community through pop up art shows. Informal and easy to set up quickly in public spaces we hope to surprise and engage audiences with temporary exhibits around campus.
• Art Fairs: This semester we reserved a table at the White River Water Festival for students to sell their art. We also typically have a group table at gatherings such as the Delta Arts Show and Scotts Fest.
• Lyon College Art Student League Art Fair: This year we are planning our own art fair on campus. We are inviting artists from around the state and across campus to utilize The Temp to connect not just with the community, but potential members of Lyon as well. It will be held during a Lyon Honors day to promote awareness for our art program and demonstrate our level of activity, talent, and dedication.

Events: Our events we use as an opportunity to expose students to art, get them involved in a dialogue about art, and occasionally fundraise.

• Art Films: The Art Student League sponsors monthly documentaries or movies that deal with the art world, famous artists, and art culture. Afterwards attendees participate in an open discussion about their thoughts on the ideas presented. Movies we have shown include I Shot Andy Warhol, Art School Confidential, Radiant Child, Exit through the Gift Shop, and several others.
• Taco Election Night: During the last election we teamed up with the Young Democrats and College Republicans to host an election night forum and taco sale. We used edible colors to screen print faces of candidates for the Republican, Democrat, and Green party. Attendees could cast their vote by purchasing a taco with their candidates' face on it.
• Light Writing: Last year both the photography and drawing students used long exposure camera techniques to create light writing photographs. We held an event showing these off to the campus and selling refreshments.
• Annual Valentines Card Sale: Every Spring semester we design and screen print Valentine 's Day cards what we sell to students the week before. This is a very popular fundraiser for the Art Student League.

Activities: Our activities, unlike our many of our events are usually not for the purpose of fundraising or art exposure, but for the benefit of brining the community together through an art based activity.

• Stress Relief Painting: During finals last semester we used lengths of un-stretched canvas to allow students to take a break from studying and let of some creative steam and interact with fellow students in a relaxing environment.
• Balloon Dart Painting: This semester similar to the stress relief painting we will be filling balloons with paint so that participants can throw darts to create a community work of art.

Much of what we do to provide these experiences involves money for gas, lodging, and materials. To accommodate this we do much of our own fundraising. We also get involved with funding from Lyon College Student Government Association, but it is important to us to try and match what they generously provide. With a member base that has grown by almost double from last year and nonmember students who attend our open invitation trips increasing as well our need for funds is growing as well. Our fundraisers in the past have included art fairs, bake sales, annual valentines card sales, and selling foods at our events.

Advisor: Dustyn Bork
Email: dustyn.bork@lyon.edu