With one paintbrush, watercolor palette, and sketchbook at a time, Art in Action, a D-E student club, contributed to greater Englewood earlier this spring. The club – led by Bodhi Mather ’23 and Edalix Marin ’23— dropped off colorful boxes brimming with art supplies at the Women’s Rights Information Center in Englewood for the families and clients involved with the center and its art therapy program. “We are an art club, but service is also a very, very big part of our mission,” Edalix noted. Art in Action decided to contribute to the art therapy program specifically because it was held online and “people need[ed] to have supplies at home”, according to Edalix. “Having bags [of art supplies] would be really helpful to [the members]”.

The art supply drive was a collaborative effort, where the club worked together to organize, promote, and carry out this project. The leaders worked to draft proposals, determine the funds, obtain the supplies, promote the drive, and fill up 60 bags for the donation. When asked what important lesson was learned through this experience, Bodhi described how she had realized the “importance of meeting the true needs of local organizations as opposed to assuming what would be best for them”.

Connecting with the organization and working to truly help it, she expanded, allowed the club to successfully plan and donate the supplies. For Edalix, this project opened her up to seeing more of Dwight’s community…[“It was just really nice to see the way people responded and engaged with [our fundraising efforts]”.