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Art Student Union molding young artists on campus

Students of ASU participating in their annually scheduled paint night. (Courtesy of Art Student Union)

Taylor Carito
Connector Editor

Recipient of the Student Leadership Award the Rising River Hawk in 2016, the Art Student Union (ASU) at UMass Lowell makes an effort to help young artists better their skills regardless of abilities. It is open to all students and meets once a week.

“We’re able to make art that might not be as accessible as say painting and drawing,” says Secretary Anna McCarthy. ASU has access to school funding and equipment and does additional fundraising to afford more complex things such as printmaking and Turkish marbling. This allows students to further their artistic abilities in an unprofessional setting.

Every Thursday, ASU hosts different workshops on campus for any student interested in art. “We’ve had workshops with paper and wire sculptures, painting, printmaking, business and marketing strategies, drawing, a lot of things,” says McCarthy. These workshops are adjusted for all artistic levels.

ASU periodically organizes events around campus. “We hosted a paint night during opening week as a fundraiser for the New York trip, and we donated 10 percent to St. Jude,” says McCarthy. The student organization also collaborated with the Association of Students of African Origins for “No Face No Race” campaign which included face painting of students’ flags of origin for AIDS awareness.

As a result of this event and their efforts on and off campus, the ASU received the Rising River Hawk award. The award is given to a student organization dedicated to growth both within the organization and at UMass Lowell. They are dedicated to student involvement in the organization and participants on campus as well.

They also arrange off campus excursions such as trips to art gallery openings around Lowell and surrounding areas, and a team from ASU participates win the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race. These events are free to members of the organization.

However, their larger excursion is a three day trip to New York City every spring semester. On this trip, the ASU stays at a hotel in N.Y. and explores several art galleries and museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

ASU meets every Thursday at 7 p.m. in Dugan Hall room B8. Supplies are provided for those who do not have any, but personal supplies are also welcome. The leaders of the group post what subject the workshop of the week will cover on their homepage at uml.edu/clubs.

“Art Student Union is a club for anyone interested in art and gives members the opportunity to make art in many different mediums,” says McCarthy.