Mindful Vandalism [Art club]

[Devon Wentsworth]

OOC: This thread is only open to students enrolled in the art club]


The rain had managed to hold off for the day and it looked like it was going to be a very pleasant early-Autumn evening, which was absolutely perfect considering the art club students had unanimously decided they wanted to work outside today. However, he had made sure there was a large tarpaulin to hand in case the scattered clouds did decide they wanted to empty themselves, and he had the winged nurse's number in his phone so they could get the cover up quickly so none of the kids work would be ruined by a sudden downpour. A small table had been brought out into the courtyard and it held bottles of both plain and flavoured water as well as a plate of cookies and a bowl of fruit-flavoured sweets. Creativity could be draining after all. Under the table was his bag and several buckets and sponges for clean-up later. Devon checked his watch and it told him it was 3:29, and the art teacher stepped down off the little stepping stool and stood back to look at his work.

On the wall high above him the Hammel Institute sign stood tall and proud, but beneath that there was now a huge 'HAMMEL' written in bold outline letters in white chalk.

Devon gave a proud nod, pleased with how it had come out, and he dropped the stick of chalk he had been using into one of the huge buckets full of dozens of different coloured chalks that were perched on stepping stools near the wall. Looking down at his faded Pearl Jam t-shirt he tried to dust some of the chalk powder off it, but since his hands were covered in it too it just served to surround him in a faint white cloud. He was glad he'd advised everyone to wear scruffs. Setting up the little CD player and putting in the Star Trek soundtrack (it was lyric-less and neutral enough to not be too distracting), he now just had to wait on everyone arriving so they could begin.

[Astley Pyatt]

Astley was used to spending her Thursdays with Devon by now. But despite her weekly assisting, she still wasn't sure what he'd had planned for the art club meeting. She hadn't been sure if she could ask, or if it was supposed to be a secret, so she'd ended up going back and forth in her head until it was too late. Because now it was finally time for the first art club meeting of the term.

Making her way to the given location, Astley was surprisingly smiley. It was a nice day so far, judging by the lack of rain, and presence of a sort of ambient light, and she was happy to be out and about. It was probably a little cooler than she had assumed, but she was used to dressing inappropriately for the temperature. She was a little worried about getting her nice dress dirty, though, now that she saw the bucket of chalk. But hey - it's not like her parents couldn't afford to buy her a new one (though she didn't really like to take advantage of their wealth). Besides, she'd been excited to use chalk after meeting Ricio at the Pilot Ridge Field Day and hearing about his amazing chalk optical illusions.

"Hey Devon," Astley greeted her teacher warmly as she approached the tables, and picked up a cookie to snack on. "So what's the plan?" She asked, with her usual curiosity, looking over the wall almost hungrily. That was a lot of blank space to experiment with. This could be quite fun.

[Kelly Thompson]

Kelly hadn't been in art club long. He joined because he was tired of drawing with people looking over his shoulder rudely as he worked. Here they could be more open he figured. And what would be more fun than meeting up with kids that had the same interest as yours?

Following as the teacher advised, Kelly was wearing loose jeans and sneakers. On top was a grey t-shirt that had a graphic design washed off from use. It was two sizes too big, and could've been a dress for a petite girl. The boy didn't care about that or how chilly it might be outside. As long as the ground wasn't covered in frost or snow he didn't need a jacket. Kelly's logic was that compared to this it would get much colder later in the season, so he saw no point in over dressing now. Well anyways, he was on his way to the courtyard in his very plain, and rather dull, clothing.

He stepped out into the courtyard to find the teacher an a blonde girl, Astley, already out. "Hey." Kelly called out to them as he neared them. He looked up at the wall the others were observing. It was a blank canvas for the art club to fill. "So we're chalking up walls now?" Sweet.

[Rain Tseung]

It was time for art club, excitement was an understatement when it came to how Rain felt. Rain was beyond excited, like always, but on the other hand also very nervous. She was always nervous when it came to people watching her be artsy, she was always more aware of what she was doing, how she was doing it, and what she looked like doing it.

However, she loved art club, she loved art, it was her passion, and she wanted to make it her career. She would have never been able to find out that her passion was art if it wasn’t for joining the art club. She felt like such a newb in the club, she had only joined resently, and she thought she had been the newest member, she could be wrong though. The teacher leading the art club was very nice, she liked him, which was such a plus.

She walked over to where the teacher was standing, she liked how the class was outside, she could feel the plant’s happiness, and it just made her ten times happier. She waved to the teacher, Kelly, and Astley “Hello!” She looked at the chalk, and then the wall, she was glad they were using chalk and not spray paint… She didn’t know if her lungs could handle it.

[Deleted]

Junpei was terribly excited because this was to be the first real meeting that he was able to attend of the Art Club since coming to Hammel. Now, Junpei couldn't really say he was a regular van Gogh, but he did like to doodle. Especially in the margins of his notes, and even more especially when he got lost in the lecture with no hope of catching up. Of course, the humble Japanese boy he was, Junpei refused to acknowledge that he might actually have some talent. He really only did these things for fun. And fun it was to be as he approached the meeting spot to find the other members he hadn't much a chance to meet yet and an assortment of chalk.

Oooo...chalk....

With bright eyes and an equally bright smile, Junpei stepped into the small crowd of fellow artists. "Hello!" He waved his hand at them, not quite sure whether he was supposed to wait for instructions or just dive in and grab a piece of chalk.

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

Monroe walked up to the brick wall, surveying it and running his lands along the chalk written 'HAMMEL'. Sweet. "So, Devon, what's on the agenda for today?" Chalk wasn't his usual medium, but it would definitely be an interesting experiment. He nodded his head in approval of the Star Wars theme music and scanned the faces around him for Lucy Serrano. He was surprised she wasn't here ready to grab his arm and claim him as her partner, but then again, she didn't seem like one to be on time to places either, so he shrugged it off and sent a friendly smile and a nod at Junpei, who he'd met at the retreat. He was humble and they had art in common and Monroe couldn't help but grin when the guy was around.

He was eager to begin on an art project as it had been a while since he just let himself loose. Art club was starting up again. "Oh and Devon," he turned to the teacher. He hated calling teachers Mr. and Mrs. blahblahblah. Besides, he didn't seem to mind. "Sorry about the mess in the art room a while ago. Serrano got a little paint happy." She still had his beanie.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

"I sure as fuck did not, Roey." Lucy chimed in, crinkling her nose as she made haste to catch up to the conversation about her. Rude, Monroe. Rude! You don't throw your art-wife under the bus!

She ran her hand along her jaw, as if trying to stifle the fact that she was a blatantly horrid swearer. Or maybe she was just considering how to go about this now that some dumbass with perfect hair had told on her. "It was both of us." She glared at him. If she were going down, he was going with her. "And the time before that was some girl named Evony... Vaseline?" And that chick was pure crazy. "I wouldn't have thrown paint at my own face, would I? That's just stupid." And yes, she did still have his beanie. She was wearing it. The occasional splatter of bright green and deep purple gave it character, so she'd left it on there.

"How'd it taste by the way, big fella?" Lucy asked Monroe with a smile, "Just like you always dreamed it would?"

[Devon Wentsworth]

Devon had been greatly looking forward to this meeting of the art club since he had planned it out a few weeks before. What with spirit week coming up and inspections around the corner it would hopefully turn out to be a good bonding exercise for the group, as well as providing the students with a chance to really show off their individual talents and personalities whilst working together on one huge piece. Being outside also made a very refreshing change and would be a chance to blow out the creative cobwebs, and he was pleased that the vote had swung that way.

As the students began to arrive Devon instantly took note of what Astley was wearing. He had been rather clear in the group emails about what sort of clothing would be required for the activity, and he internally sighed at her apparent ignoring of said requirements. “Hello Astley, it's good to see you. But would you mind running back to your dorm and putting on a pair of trousers or shorts, please? I did mention that rugged clothes would be needed, and since there is probably going to be step ladders involved your dress is rather inappropriate.”

Devon warmly greeted Kelly, Junpei and Rain, and was pleased to see that the young girl seemed to be coming out of her shell a little since she'd signed up to join the club. That was one of the real delights of his job, getting to watch youngsters develop their artistic skills and use them to display their individual personalities and passions through their chose mediums.

Once Monroe and Lucy arrived Devon gathered everyone around so he could explain what would be happening. “Okay everyone, thanks for coming. As you all know Hammel spirit week is coming up very soon.” A concept which the Brit had to have explained to him when he'd first been told about it. It kinda made sense but it wasn't anything he'd ever encountered back in England. It was, however, a concept he could totally get behind.

“As you can see, we're going to be chalking up the wall today. In particular, we're going to be filling these letters with what Hammel means to us. Well, I say 'we', I mean you guys.” Devon indicated to the chalked wall behind him. “Absolutely anything and everything that this place means to you. Be it good, bad, sad, scary, whatever. You have absolutely free rein, but if you do feel the urge to try to be vaguely explicit please keep it toned down. I really don't wanna censor ya, because that defeats the point of art, but please keep in mind that, once it's finished, a photo of it is going to be blown up onto canvas to be put up on display somewhere in the school.”

Monroe's admission caused a dark eyebrow to raise, and Devon gave a small nod of his head. “Thanks, I'd been wondering who'd done that.” It had become painfully apparent of late that the locks installed on the supply cabinet doors over the summer break had done little to deter the more destructive kids here, and Devon had already requested stronger ones to be put in their place. It really sucked to have to start the meeting on a bum note, but these things couldn't be ignored. “You and Miss Serrano can stay behind after this meet-up so we can have a chat about why theft and vandalism are not cool.” And also about how they would be spending the next two weeks staying behind after classes to spend time under supervision cleaning writing and doodles off the desks in the classrooms.

[Astley Pyatt]

Astley's eyes went wide and she let out a little squeak of embarrassment, thoroughly flustered, her inner dialogue already in full swing even as she hung her head and trudged away from the now growing group.

Stupid stupid stupid, should've checked the email again, stupid. -Shut it, I thought I remembered.- Well, you didn't. Stupid. -Yeah, I got that part, I'm stupid, blah blah blah, you can let up on it.- Apparently not, since you keep acting stupid. Honestly... -Christ, I'm changing, aren't I?- Yeah, but now everyone's gonna know you messed up. And you're gonna be late. -...That can't be that big of a deal. ...Right?- It's a big deal. You messed up.

She hated that little habit. Those two sides of her mind that heightened her insecurity. But at least they'd distracted her while she changed. And now she had that delightful prospect of returning to the chalk party. She wasn't thrilled about it, but she resigned herself to it, and tried to slip in unnoticed.

[Thomas "Monroe" Montgomery]

"Language, Serrano," Monroe commented loosely as she seemed to just appear out of nowhere. He kind of thought everyone did that though with how out of it he was all the time. "And yeah, it was both of us. But you initiated it. You stole my hat." Which she was wearing right now, and Monroe had to admit, it suited her, especially with the splatters of paint across it.

"The paint or your lips?" he asked, a tired smirk on his lips.

He listened intently to Devon's instructions and could already tell this was going to be fun. He was sure many of them had interesting thoughts on Hammel and it would turn out very artistic. When he finished, he found it necessary to apologize. Although he wouldn't consider what they did theft and vandalism, merely just making a mess. "I am sorry. The art room is my solace. And then Serrano....it was just a mess."