Revived Haines high school art club gears up for weekend bazaar

Late Friday afternoon, most of Haines School students have left for the day. But the art room, lights are on and music plays in the background. Five members of the school’s new art club put finishing touches on pieces they hope to sell during a weekend holiday bazaar. Teacher Tara Reynolds gives Robin Oaks, a junior, gets a quick refresher on stacking her small collection of bug-themed cups and plates in a kiln. Oaks has helped to screen print a few pieces for the annual Haines Woman’s Club holiday bazaar, but this will be the first time selling her work. “I hope it goes well,” she said. Nearby at a long black table, MJ Hotch (Dei Yik) carefully inks the Lingít phrase “Sigoowu Kiswas” onto a set of block-printed holiday greeting cards featuring a sockeye salmon in a Santa Claus hat. It means Merry Christmas. The four-block pieces took about five hours to finish this week and Hotch said she designed them specifically for the holiday bazaar. Hotch has sold her artwork in a variety of other places, including a formline moon design on a table at Taste of Deishú, and pieces in the Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center in Klukwan. This will be her first time selling work at the bazaar. The school offers an art class, but students and staff said this is the first time in at least three years that an art club has been active. Currently, eight students meet weekly during their advisory period to plan the club’s strategy. They started with a bake sale and concessions to raise money for T-shirts. They launched a social media page. By Friday evening, the art room was filled with sweatshirts, T-shirts and other items screen-printed with the new logo of the Haines art club, a design credited to student Ezra Nash. Art teacher Lindsay Finnan is on leave, but her longtime substitute Reynolds credits Finnan with reviving the defunct club and pushing students to sell their work at the annual holiday bazaar. Both Hotch and Oaks said the club members hope to use funds they raise to go on a trip toward the end of the school year, perhaps to a museum or to see an art show. The 93rd annual Haines Woman’s Club bazaar and bake sale starts at 10 a. m. Saturday at Haines school.
https://www.chilkatvalleynews.com/2025/11/22/revived-haines-high-school-art-club-gears-up-for-weekend-bazaar/