New club opens for flock of artists

Since the beginning of this fall, Crowder College has experienced several additions. One addition in particular is the new art and design club, the Pigeon Studio.

According to Tyler Dallis, art design and theatre major and president of Pigeon Studio, the art department tried to start an Art and Design Club a few years back; however, the lack of participation prevented the club from growing. Because of this, the club was eventually shut down. On Oct. 14 this semester, the Student Government Association (SGA) recognized the Pigeon Studio as the new art and design club.

“I wouldn’t say that we are re-opening the old club,” said Casey Stueber, art instructor. “As an art instructor at Crowder College, I want to create a community of artist within the school who work together and share their creativity.”

When renaming the Art and Design Club to something more creative, the members voted on Pigeon Studio as a way to link Crowder’s history with its present. The word “Pigeon” is a reflection of Camp Crowder for not only recruiting soldiers, but also breeding and training pigeons.

“Crowder used to have one of the biggest pigeon training camps here for carrier pigeons,” said Dallis. ”We wanted to relate it back to the school’s history.”

Although the club has just recently been recognized, its members have already started several projects. Two of their finished projects are painting the lockers in the SSS computer labs and creating Halloween-themed pieces for the Art Show and Halloween Party held on Oct. 24.

Creating art for the Halloween show, according to Dallis, was not originally the club’s project. But with time running short for the art department, the members of the club pitched in to help offer both students and faculty art worthy of display.

“Pigeon Studio got some stuff ready and are helping them out,” said Dallis. “About half of the [art] class are in our club, so it’s kind of the same thing.”

The last two projects the Pigeon Studio is currently working on are a bird’s nest and 100 pigeons of different material. According to Dallis, the bird’s nest is part of a workshop for 3-D art that the club is doing. The 100 pigeons, however, are for display.

The plan is to create pigeons in either 2-D or 3-D art, using any material that the members wish to use. The Pigeon Studio plans to have their 100 pigeons on display at the Longwell Museum some time next semester.