Students Want Art at Garfield (S.W.A.G.) has quickly become one of the most well known clubs on Garfield’s campus. Dedicated to getting more artwork and true dog spirit around the school, it’s no wonder that S.W.A.G has over 300 members in its Facebook group. Members of S.W.A.G plan on doing small school spirited projects, such as painting trashcans and getting banners, but much larger plans have also been made.

“A member of S.W.A.G will paint a large bulldog face on a 10-foot by 10-foot canvas,” said Emily Proulx, founder of S.W.A.G. The club plans on then cutting the canvas into square foot pieces, and offering them out for token fees (probably around 50 cents) to students, providing paint and other materials needed for each student to contribute to the mosaic. Once the individual canvases are completed, they will be put back together.

“The finished mosaic will reflect Garfield’s diverse and united student body,” Emily said. S.W.A.G. hopes that the unified piece of artwork will be displayed in the staircase across the hall from Mr. Mandelman’s room, near the alder street entrance, though S.W.A.G first needs approval from the administration. Ms. Hungate-Hawk, S.W.A.G.’s club advisor, acts as their official liaison.

S.W.A.G. has also come up with the idea to recreate the mural that was in the parking lot of the old Garfield on the cement wall near Alder. The original mural consisted of a Spiderman-bulldog, a painting of The Messenger, and a bulldog playing a saxophone, amongst other things. The project was put on standby due to the cold winter weather, but once it warms up, it will be resumed.

“We are hoping to incorporate a lot of the old mural into our new piece which will also consist of new ideas from the Garfield student body,” Emily said.

To fund its student-run projects, S.W.A.G has collected money through its bake sales and an ink cartridge drive which is currently underway. “We have to work for the money to buy the paint and supplies for the projects,” Emily said.

Having the student body brainstorm ideas for murals at Garfield won’t be a hard task. S.W.A.G.’s wall on Facebook is full with people’s ideas for separate projects, such as purple doors, painted bathrooms, and an entire wall free to anyone who’d like to tag it. Currently the only student created piece of artwork on display is the ’09 mural on the third floor, and students want more. Our school seems to be plagued with bland, beige walls, but at the old Garfield, artwork was abundant.

“It improved the spirit of the school,” junior Alec Marten said, “because when a sweet mural is around, you just feel happier.”