Pierce College students, faculty, and members of the community displayed their creativity Tuesday at the Express Success Art Festival hosted by the Pierce College Chapter of the National Society for Leadership and Success.
The event “Chalk Walk” on April 29, invited groups and individuals to rent designated areas in front of the Great Hall to display any message they wanted to convey to the public with chalk and other forms of art.
“Students can express themselves through chalk on the ground for everyone to see,” Student Helena Lissauer said.
Energetic music roared through the Great Hall doors where young children gathered and danced, while others were prepped to take a part of the festival home with them as the henna tattoo artist drew Indian inspired patterns onto their hands and arms.
The festival was free to the public and open for anyone, but to participate a fee was required, which ranged from $3 to $50. Pierce College students and clubs dominated its attendance.
Although this was the first time the Pierce College Chapter of the National Society for Leadership and Success has hosted the Chalk Walk on its home turf, a local chapter hosts a similar event in Pasadena, Calif. annually.
The group serves to bring the community together and to build a society of America’s future leaders through community service, goal setting tasks, and special scholarship opportunities.
“We are trying to give back and have reasons for people to come together,” vice president of the Pierce Chapter of the National Society for Leadership and Success Sylvia Adrino said. “We create leaders.”
The money collected from this year’s event will go toward the induction ceremony for the society members which includes plaques and awards to formally represent the students participation in the society.
Since the club’s mantra is based off of contributing the community, five percent of all funds raised during the event will be donated to the San Fernando Valley Boys and Girls Club.
“Kids go to the Boys and Girls Club right after school, we did three community service events, and hand handed out T-shirts,” Adrino said.
The advisor for the society, Michelle Hofmann, was excited to see the event that took months of planning and many obstacles finally come together.
“It’s a great group promoting leadership and success,” Hofmann said. “We’re just glad to have people on the mall expressing themselves how they want.”
Participants in the event did exactly that. One group drew a large blue and white flag on the mall sidewalk that read, “We stand for Israel.”
Lissauer explained how the festival gave people an outlet to express their creativity and a chance to publicly display their individuality.
“Be you because everyone else is taken!” Lissauer said.