It may be called the Fine Arts Club, but its founders really want it to be about the fun.

“What we do in the Fine Arts Club is … different fun art mediums and art activities,” said co-founder Savannah Benitez, a senior Marketing major, who is the club’s president. “For example we’ve had events such as Bob Ross nights and dress to impress. 

“We just recently had mineCRAFT night where students got to create whatever they wanted out of wooden blocks,” she said. “We try to keep each event fun and new and don’t like to stick with one specific art form.” 

Despite its name, the organization’s main goal is to give students a place to decompress after the pressure of classes and study.

“We don’t like to judge with art, we let people express themselves however they like,” said Benitez. “It’s just a space and community where students can find people of different majors and relax from class. It’s more like a de-stress club, and it means a lot when students come after class and say this club is exactly what they needed.”

Meetings are open to anyone who wants to participate.

“They’re available to anyone interested,” Benitez said. “We never send anyone away. … We’ve had alumni, mothers of students, and staff come to meetings, so we definitely welcome anyone to join.” 

The club has evolved from what Benitez and co-founder Taylor Collins first imagined.

“The Fine Arts Club was going to be a band and art club. Its original name was Band, Orchestra, Choir, and Art Club,” said Benitez. “We were going to do bi-weekly [meetings] and switch up the meetings from band to art but it wasn’t working how we wanted. More people liked art than band so … we just focused on it being an art club”

Participation has since increased. 

“When we first started our meetings were much smaller, like 10 people on average,” said Benitez.  “Our average is around 20 to 30 students per meeting now.”

The growth means that Benitez sometimes scrambles to prepare for meetings.

“Since I’m basically running everything, my main mindset is making sure everyone else is having a great time,” she said. “It’s definitely more tiring for me than when I started but I still love watching others have fun and putting on the event.”

But Benitez said that she still has time to enjoy the meetings. 

“Nowadays “Yesterday, I was able to enjoy making a Minecraft frog so there definitely are moments I get to enjoy and have fun,” she said.

The club meets regularly in CLO’s new multipurpose space.