Every month, students at an ASU art club stage art tables filled with paints, brushes and canvases on ASU's West campus, inviting people to participate in a night of creation.
The event, called Community Art Night, is a series that the Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance Club at ASU has been holding since October 2018.
The free event is held at La Sala ballroom on the ASU West campus and aims to help bring together members of the local community and artists for a few hours of live music, short films, spoken word, free food and more.
Ammar Al-Jabiri, a junior studying interdisciplinary arts and performance at ASU West's New College, is the president of the Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance Club.
Al-Jabiri said that the community art night is beneficial for students and members of the community because it exposes them to a variety of art media.
"We're interdisciplinary arts, so we promote any sort of creative mediums," he said. "We like to promote visual arts, like Photoshop, design, digital art, all that stuff."
Al-Jabiri said that the community art nights are intended for students, and even community members who don't regularly make art, to bring out their artistic talents.
“I want people to express any sort of creativity,” he said.
Tiff Gibbs, a senior studying interdisciplinary arts and performance and the vice president of the Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance Club, said that the art night allows members to see others like them showcasing their talent.
Gibbs said that art students sometimes struggle with being able to promote their work.
“Oftentimes most peers don’t know to bring their work to galleries to show them off,” she said. "It's helpful to the community, not just for artists, but for other students and people to come in and showcase their work and network."
Gibbs said that the casual environment that community art night supports encourages artists and students to feel comfortable.
"There's always new people, and there's always new things to see," she said. "I think it's exciting to see what the community brings out and what people will do on stage."
Syeed Poole, a senior studying interdisciplinary arts and performance and an active performer in the local art scene, is a student at ASU West campus that has consistently taken part in the community art night event.
Poole, who has been featured in the Phoenix New Times for his electronic music, said he performed poetry for the first community night but since then has primarily used the stage for singing with his electronic-based music.
He said the community art night event appeals to a wide variety of people whether they participate or not.
“Even if people don't perform, they still go just to see what it is like,” Poole said. “I think it's for people who aren't necessarily artists but who just go for the social aspect, which I think is really important."
Poole said that this event has been helpful to many students in getting their art out in a real-world setting so that they can see the public's reactions to their art and develop as an artist.
“Students have somewhere they can show their work and get feedback,” he said.
Gibbs said the community art night event is a great opportunity for students and the local community to attend a free night of art and entertainment.
"I think it's just something that's really nice for people to come, stop by and check out and support local artists, support their friends (and) support the community."
The community art night will be held on March 26 and allows artists who are interested in performing to sign up for a spot.
Reach the reporter at ssalahi@asu.edu or follow @mynameissamia on Twitter.
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