The Baltimore School for the Arts takes pride in its rigorous work days, in which students practice the arts while also acquiring skills in core subjects like English, math, and science.
Due to that, the school rarely featured clubs in its first years of development. But, with the new leadership of the school and a post-quarantine environment, came an influx of clubs.
Another reason BSA clubs have found itself as a hot topic is due to the funding and time it takes to create a club. The growing number of clubs means a larger sum of money used to fund the groups. At the beginning of the 2021 school year each club was allotted $500 seed money.
In the last five years, clubs related to art, strategy, writing, and fitness have been born.
On September 8th, 2023, a club fair occurred, presenting three new clubs: The Fitness Club, The Fiber Arts Club, and The Listening Party.
Clubs are a bit of a controversial topic, with some of the BSA community thinking that students should focus on their art and less on distractions.
One of the new clubs announced was The Fitness Club. It takes place in the physical education room in the basement. Erica Tolentino (the club’s advisor) is also BSA’s physical education teacher. When asked to advise the club, Tolentino was very excited to see it happen.
As one might assume, an art school is not exactly a gym bro capital. That being said, some students who don’t have the ability to play on recreational sports teams yearn for an after-school workout.
The leaders of the group (and workout enthusiasts) are juniors Kisho Berry (Film ’25) and Luke Strand (Theater ’25). The two started the club to provide students a place at school to focus on their exercise.
“Everyone doesn’t have the funds or means to go to a local gym to work out, so I talked to Luke and said ‘Hey, we should start a club’,” says Berry.
The club is organized in an open gym fashion, meaning club members can work on whatever they want, whether it’s getting swole in the arms or pumping the glutes. On occasion, people hold group exercises for everyone to participate in.
“If people don’t know what they’re doing in the gym, they go to us, and they can ask for help and instruction,” says Strand.
Students who attend enjoy being a part of a fitness community and having a place at school where they can work out.
“The athletic club is a judge-free zone where you can get tips and tricks to get your fitness goals met. If you want to get ripped, go there,” notes sophomore Miles Mongan, a frequent attendee of the club.
Strand goes on to talk about his hopes for the club.
“We hope it can help people better themselves… working out in general requires a lot of discipline, no matter what your goal is. There’s a really good product of discipline and we think that can be translated into art. Also, it’s a really fun thing to do,” comments Strand, when asked about his opinion on how the club affects the school.
The Listening Party is another new club in the 23-24 school year. It is the perfect place for all you music lovers. The club takes place in Mr. Hendrick’s room, on the third floor.
Music buffs Shira Evans (Visual Art 24’) and Aminah Ebron (Theater 24’) lead The Listening Party. The party is cleverly called the ‘LP’ for short.
“I started The Listening Party because I recognized the tremendous role music plays in the lives of BSA students and faculty alike, so I wanted to create a club where students could expand their music taste, discuss music-related topics, listen to music, share, and share original music with their fellow music enthusiasts,” says Ebron.
Before the weekly meetings, the LP holds a vote on the album that will be played in the meeting. That vote takes place through a Google form often posted on the party’s Instagram, the clubs main source of communication.
The form has featured a diverse list of albums, from Mazzy Star to SZA. When the Album is picked, it’s again posted on the LP Instagram, and all BSA students are invited to come and listen.
If you are outraged that the album of the week is by another indie dude with a beanie— vote!
“We want to explore a wide range of genres— not just one style of music. Music is so diverse and is an important storytelling mechanism and in our club, this must be reflected in the albums we select,” says Ebron.
The album is either played on a record player or is played through Spotify. Along with the music, Mr. Hendrick displays a video of a digital graphic to go with the album on the projector.
For the album Innerspeaker by Tame Impala, it was a groovy, trippy, constantly mixing color wheel.
Students come in after school ends, ready to hear some tunes. Part of the reason students enjoy the club is not only the music but because of the experience. LP goe-ers like coming to the club to hang out and de-stress after school.
“I like the fact that you can socialize. I listen to the albums but it’s a great place to hang out after school and talk to people,” says freshman Kenya Price.
“It was really exciting for the club to choose an artist that I like and to just talk to people who don’t know who he is, and get them hooked on him too,” says sophomore Zoe Blackwell-Allen, a usual LP attender, about one of her favorite artists, Tame Impala.
“This club is good because it makes you want to learn a new artist and meet new people from other departments and grades. I’m constantly asking people ‘Who should I listen to? What’s a good artist to listen to?’ I feel like I listen to the same thing over and over again!” Blackwell-Allen says with a laugh.
Ebron believes that starting clubs that revolve around outside of school interests are very beneficial to the school.
“If anything, I think it’s expanding the art school. I think it’s amazing that students want to engage in activities outside of their art because, though a huge part of our identities, we are also individuals outside of being artists. Having other clubs can also serve as a source of inspiration that we can use in our own art,” Ebron states.
The LP held a live music session called BSA Unplugged in the library on November 29th, 2023. The event featured three musical artists, all BSA students, who got to play and practice for their peers.
The Listening Party Instagram describes the event as Think NPR’s Tiny Desk or MTV Unplugged.
One of the final new clubs is The Fiber Arts Club. The club works in sewing, crocheting, knitting, felting, and anything else that has to do with fiber (except raisin bran.) The club is led by music senior Odelia Elliott and visual arts senior Phoebe Greene.
The two started the club because they wanted a place to express themselves artistically, without the pressure of grades and teachers.
“I realized that I was so stressed out about making good art all the time. I started crocheting junior year, and I was really into it because I was like ‘nobody tells me it has to be good,’” remarks Greene.
Along with most of the new clubs, The Fiber Arts club allows people with all different skill sets to participate.
“I know I started the fiber arts club, but I’m still very much a beginner at it,” Green explains. “It’s a space for people to learn.”
The club has a relaxed setting, with low pressure. They embrace the English granny lifestyle of fiber arts and often serve tea and light snacks.
Sometimes they hold group activities where multiple people can participate in a project, or learn from one another.
“In the club there is both guided fiber arts or you can work on personal projects,” Greene states.
Greene remarks that being a part of the fiber arts club has helped her as an artist.
“If you’re pumping out artwork to get a good grade and you’re constantly stressing about what that is, you don’t have time to be creative. Last year one of my biggest critiques was to focus less on the actual skill, and more on the art,” says Greene.
“It was at the end of the year, that’s when I started crocheting when I saw my art get more me. I liked the art I was making more because I felt like allowing myself to do things that aren’t good or don’t have to be good art. Kind of makes my art better,” Greene continued.
All of the leaders came to a similar conclusion, in their own words. They all believed, in some way, that the clubs of BSA do nothing but help students’ artistic and academic lifestyles at school. From exercising, to listening to music, to crocheting, all of the clubs are outlets for students to connect and destress.
To contact this writer, email Muse Newspaper at musebsa@bsfa.org.
Featured photos of club activities photographed by Lotus Partlow for the BSA Muse.
