George H.W. Bush New Tech Odessa art teacher Jesus Valeriano has many irons in the fire and one of them is the recently started National Art Honor Society.
There are 16 members and Valeriano said it is more exclusive than the National Honor Society, which has about 70 students.
Nisabella Karais, an 18-year-old senior, is president of the National Art Honor Society. She said you have to, among other things, have good grades and contribute to the Free Little Art Gallery.
Students place things like earrings, stickers, bookmarks and small sketchbooks for people to take. They have to restock frequently.
Valeriano said having the Free Little Art Gallery makes art accessible and approachable to the community. He added that they have been getting a lot of notice on social media and contributors have started to crop up.
He said it is the first one in Odessa and the sixth Free Little Art Gallery in the state.
“It’s a worldwide movement,” Valeriano said.
This is the first year for the society. It is open to juniors and seniors for this year. Next year, they are hoping to open it up to other grades.
The group tries to meet twice weekly.
“I’ve always had a love for art. Even for someone like me who doesn’t want to go into an artistic field, I want to use it somehow in my career. I’ve always had a love for what it can bring to the community,” Karais said.
She added that she hopes the National Art Honor Society will continue.
“Like I said I’m a senior, so obviously I won’t be here the following year. But the Free Little Art Gallery and the National Art Honor Society is something that even for people who aren’t ‘artistic,’ they’ll have something to look at. We want to spread this art around to make people feel good,” Karais said.
Destiny Amaya, a 17-year-old senior, thinks it’s great to be part of the National Art Honor Society.
Amaya said they’ve always gotten together to do things and try different mediums like clay.
“That was really fun because a lot of us stick to one type of medium, so he gives us the opportunity to explore different things that we can use for our VASE competition, for example. We spend time trying to work on things for that,” Amaya said.
Veronica Flores, a 17-year-old senior, has been taking art classes since middle school and was a state winner in VASE (Visual Arts Scholastic Event) in 2020.
Chloe Acosta, a 17-year-old senior, said she really enjoys being part of the National Art Honor Society because it allows her to showcase her art.
She uses watercolor and acrylics.
“I like to paint. I try to paint realistic things and just better my skills. I try to challenge myself,” Acosta said.
Nyssa Dunn, a 17-year-old junior, is the incoming vice president for next year.
“Last year we had art club. This is another thing that was similar, so I wanted to do it,” Dunn said.
She enjoys being able to create crafts and paint.
Valeriano said he thinks the society validates the work of his students because sometimes art isn’t taken seriously, or people just see it as a hobby.
“But having a National Society, you need certain talent and you need to meet certain requirements to become part of it. It really is amazing,” Valeriano said.
He added that as members of the National Art Honor Society, students have access to scholarships.
“It looks amazing on any college application,” Valeriano said.
This year, the National Art Educators Conference will be in Texas, which for a lot of art educators is a dream.
Because the national meetings are always so far away, Valeriano said they attend the state conferences.
“But this year, the National Art Educators Association conference is in San Antonio so one of the things the National Art Educators Association does is being in charge of the honor society so it all came together,” Valeriano said.
