Towards the beginning of the school year, Fine Arts Chair Jolie Spellman connected the National Art Honors Society (NAHS) with an opportunity to decorate flowerpots for Barktoberfest, a local fundraising event. All the proceeds from the event will go to an animal rescue organization. They have already made tremendous progress and are very grateful for the opportunities presented to them and the assistance they have received along the way.

Trinity Prep’s chapter of NAHS is a student organization focused on using the artistic talents of its members for the benefit of the community. The society is co-sponsored by fine arts teachers Irina Ashcraft and Vadim Malkin and is open to any upper school students who are interested in applying their artistic prowess to community service projects.

“We just want to use art as inspiration,” Ashcraft said. “Something that brightens somebody’s day, but also for the better good.”

The society is a low-commitment way for students to get involved and earn some volunteer hours doing either 2D or 3D art, depending on their preference. NAHS’s only requirement is the completion of eight initial volunteer hours to be inducted into the society at the end of March.

“We will put them on our roster, on the email list, and start sending the opportunities their way,” Ashcraft said. “And it’s going to be up to them to uphold their end of the bargain and actually earn those hours.”

Since the beginning of the school year, NAHS has been hard at work on multiple new and exciting projects. The society has been working with the Boys and Girls Club of Orlando, as well as Barktoberfest. In addition to these new projects, they are still dedicated to working on their typical yearly activities.

“I think the service projects we do right now are really meaningful,” NAHS President Mavis Li said.

Their first major service project for the school year was inspired by fine arts teacher Caberbe Joseph. It started with him requesting help from the artists with thank-you notes for the Boys and Girls Club, and soon after, the society launched into action. Volunteer artists created unique and ornate designs for the cards before returning them to be filled out and delivered.

“We jumped on it, and then in a week, we got over 100 cards done,” Ashcraft said.

Once the cards were completed, they moved on to decorating the pots for Barktober Fest with Spellman’s connections. The highly talented artists created beautiful designs of animals and other symbols to elevate the terracotta bases. The pots were then allowed to dry before being packed up and donated.

“We’re always open, and we welcome people coming into us and saying ‘Hey, we have this’ or ‘How can we collaborate with you?’ or ‘Can we get your help?’” Ashcraft said.

Additionally, they are gearing up to do an annual project called the Memory Project. The organization connects NAHS with an orphanage around the world, and they receive pictures back of the kids and create personalized portraits. When the portraits are sent, the society receives back videos of the kids receiving them, and they get to witness their reactions to their work.       

“Some of them don’t own a photo of themselves, and then they get that excitement,” Ashcraft said. “They see that somebody cares about you across the globe and knows about you, and saw your picture and took time to create a portrait for you. That’s amazing.”

They also donate $15 per portrait. However, instead of asking NAHS members to donate the money, they undertake several projects throughout the year to fundraise and use the money for both their donations and supplies. Primarily, this is through selling at the Teen Art Show at the Winter Park Library.

“For all the projects we did this year, my favorite is the teen art show, where we’re doing painting and 3D clay jewelry to sell. I think that’s pretty fun,”  Li said.  “And the chalk art for the orchestra, since I’m also in the orchestra.”

These new projects would not have been possible without the dedication of all NAHS members. This year, with more help in 2D and especially in 3D sections, the society was able to take on more activities than they previously could handle. Moving forward, they hope to work with more local organizations and look forward to keeping their art to help people in whatever way they can.

“A lot of people think that you have to give up your weekend and go out and find these organizations to work with,” 3D Vice President Kinsley Wood said. “But it can be as simple as doing something that you love, like making pottery or making bowls, and that can greatly impact someone’s life in a very positive way.”