A light chatter echoes through the room. The students sit on metal stools and work on their pieces, discussing their ideas with peers.
Students involved in visual arts classes at the high school say that these classes are a relaxing way to learn techniques which are applicable in academic based classes.
Sophomore Oliver Resnick said his visual art class challenges him to achieve greater goals.

“Drawing really helps me push myself,” Resnick said. “And that’s a good skill to be able to apply to anything, physical or mental, just new ways to challenge myself. New ways to push myself further.”

Senior Isabella Zutrau-Pell said that visual arts classes have also helped direct students to find classes that work well with their learning style.

“I definitely doodle a lot in my other classes, but it affects my work mostly because I love the creative aspect of a lot of things,” Zutrau-Pell said. “I love creative writing and math, and I’m in Perspectives of a Mathematical Mind. That’s not a conventional math class and there’s a lot of visual based learning.”

Sophomore Isabel Wetzler said she uses her artistic connection when she takes notes about artists or historical visual thinkers.

“In social studies we were just doing revolutionary stuff and there are pictures and paintings of them [historical artists], so I started thinking of them in that way,” Wetzler said. “It’s really cool how I subconsciously connected them. I would think about how the art connects to the person and how the person connects to the history.”

Visual arts classes can also help students feel less stressed about their other obligations. According to junior Grace Boyer Zutshi, art class acts as a break in her day that keeps her stress levels down.

“I’m a little less stressed out in my other classes,” Boyer Zutshi said. “I’m probably a little more relaxed than I normally am.”
Zutrau-Pell also said that her visual arts class has a relaxing effect on her.

“Each one I’ve been in has felt really chill,” Zutrau-Pell said. “When you’re in it, you get to socialize a lot, and I find it really peaceful to be making things with my hands and then afterwards that feeling actually stays. It’s a nice break in the day.”

Sophomore Ira Ter-Ovanesyan said that visual arts classes can also take away the pressure of doing big projects in small amounts of time.

“It’s really calm but you keep working,” Ter-Ovanesyan said. “You don’t have to be worried about finishing it at a certain time. We get a lot of time for free spaces to work on our projects if we don’t like them.”

Zutrau-Pell said that visual arts classes are a balance of fun and learning.

“It’s something that I really like doing, and I’m kind of forced to take that break everyday in my schedule,” Zutrau-Pell said. “It’s affirmed in me the idea that taking breaks throughout your day is very important and doing things you like can make you feel happy.”