Art Club has been actively creating artworks to donate throughout the year and this month’s pieces are being donated to the Animal Care and Adoption Center. Teacher Shea Phillip’s class has been working on paintings of animals for a few weeks and will donate the art in early April.

“We’re trying to give back to the community in a positive and creative way,” Phillips said. “The members thought it would be a great idea to donate the finished works.”

Unleashing the personality of each animal with a myriad of vibrant colors, each student picked out a picture of their favorite animal in order to bring out their best qualities utilizing painting materials.

“I don’t have a pet of my own in my house, so by doing a pet portrait, I was able to more creatively express the cat’s personality blended with my own,” junior Maryanne Garcia said.

Inspired by their own pets to manifest the paintings, sophomore Josh Oldham opted for his dog Ella to exemplify her cheery attitude and commemorate Ella in the animal shelter.

“I chose her because she has a lot of hair and only one eye so that sort of gave me a bit more of a challenge,” Oldham said. “When it came to the color and technique, I gravitated toward the warmer colors because she is a happy, excited dog, and it was easier to blend them out between the light and dark colors.”

The overall message for creating each portrait delved beyond just an appealing painting and is meant to spark inspiration and happiness within the community that will leave a lasting impact.

“The contribution Art Club is making is going to really spruce up the shelter,” Garcia said. “I hope the shelter is going to appreciate the artwork with all the hard work we’ve put in to make the place even more friendlier than it is already.”