Maya Easton, first year, attending Sanctus Artem’s Painting on the Quad event with friends. GABRIELLA DICKSON / THE QUADRANGLE
Gabriella Dickson, Staff Writer
On Sept. 30, Sanctus Artem, Manhattan University’s art club, hosted a “Painting on the Quad” event, which was open to all students and gave everyone a chance to show their creative side. “Sanctus Artem”, Latin for “Holy Art” or “Sacred Art”, works to give students a space where they have freedom to express themselves.
Lucas Haas, president of Sanctus Artem and a senior environmental studies major, spoke to The Quadrangle about what the club means to him.
“I think it means community,” Haas said. “Like people getting together, and having fun, enjoying themselves, relaxing, you know, time to just let their creative side of the brain flow.”
Haas has been a part of the club since his freshman year and joined in hopes of finding a like-minded community.
“I joined my freshman year,” Haas said. “I started going to more meetings, mainly towards the end of my freshman and sophomore year. It’s like an outlet. It’s also a great place to make new friends who have now graduated, but even now I’m making new friends here too. Altogether, it’s a great place for people to come and socialize, have fun, and kind of chill out.”
Maya Easton, a freshman student in Sanctus Artem, was at the event and spoke about why art is important to have on Manhattan University’s campus.
“It’s a good way for people to express themselves, and I’ve seen people that haven’t routinely come to the club, like myself honestly,” Easton said. “But it’s nice for people to just walk past and Lucas and others will say “Art club, guys come paint”. That might be really peaceful and fun for some people, even if they’re having a bad day, just get something off their chest and art it out.”
Easton also joined Sanctus Artem her first year at Manhattan University, and went on to explain why she thinks art is important to people in general.
“I think that it depends on the person,” Easton said. “I’ve never been good at it, at least in my experience, but I’ve never had a bad experience with it and it’s always been fun. Even if it’s literally just painting a mess, I’ve still managed to have fun while doing it.”
Patrick Kantor, student body president of Manhattan University, also spoke on why art is important for students.
“It’s creativity, it’s free thinking, it’s a place to express yourself in any way,” Kantor said.
Haas also commented on why art is important not only to have available on campus, but for students to actively participate in.
“Even if you’re not great at art, it’s just awesome to let those creative juices flow and it’s also very relaxing as well,” Haas said.
Kantor spoke on how artistic expression can help students at Manhattan University.
“It allows you to express however you want, in whatever way.” Kantor said. “It doesn’t only have to be painting, but you can even do multimedia. It’s a way to express yourself, and it’s good to be free, you know?”