Cleverly named 2-D Or Not 2-D, the drawing and painting association at ASU focuses on preparing young artists for their future careers.
Senior drawing major and club president Micaela Dean has been a part of 2-D Or Not 2-D for about one year. She said she joined to be more involved in the local art community and felt that some of ASU’s art clubs were often overlooked.
“Hearing students talk about their artwork and how there are actually so many options out there for artists is something that’s hard to do in a classroom setting,” Dean said. “We learn so much by collaborating and bouncing ideas off of each other.”
During meetings, group members talk about different types of artwork and network with local artists as well as artists from other states. The club offers career building opportunities, critiques and community service projects.
Dean said they also attend First Fridays and other art related events. She added that 2-D Or Not 2-D has given her the opportunity to reach out to artists from states like California and New York.
“We do a really great job of informing the (student) artists on what they can do after graduation,” Dean said. “A lot of artists get lost and don’t know what to do after they graduate and get their degree. Having a community of artists and networking is such a huge part of the career.”
An earlier project the club involved painting 200 spoons for the ArtFest put on by ASU’s School of Art last February. The members put the spoons into swag bags and gave them out for free to people who attended the event.
“(The project) was so cool and the event was really successful,” Dean said. “The swag bags were all gone by the end of it, because the students did such a good job painting and had such a good time.”
2-D Or Not 2-D hopes to paint a mural in the art building, but Dean said the process of getting it approved hasn’t been easy.
“There isn’t a lot of artwork in the building and a lot of students are going to be walking through it every day,” she said. “We want to give them something inspirational or something to think about while they’re going to class.”
Dean said nothing is set in stone and the club members are still working with professors to make it happen. She hopes the group will paint a mural or create some other form of artwork to excite students about their future careers.
Dean said club members hope to make artwork and sell it during First Fridays next year in Phoenix.
There are no more club meetings this semester. Next year’s meeting days are to be announced, but they are usually held at 4:30 p.m. in the art building on the Tempe campus.
Reach the reporter at bridget.dowd@asu.edu or follow @bridgetbernice on Twitter.
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