ARTRA: you've heard the name and spent a few seconds wondering what it is that they do. Well, be confused no longer!

The recently formed art club's name comes from the word "art" spelled forwards and backwards, co-founder Sadish Dhakal '11 explained. "It's not an acronym, it's just ARTRA."

Dhakal and Tianhan Gao '11, both first-years, started the club during their first few weeks at Grinnell. Dhakal, who has considered art as a possible major, was inspired when he couldn't get into any art classes.

"There were no art clubs here so we just decided to do it," Dhakal said. "The purpose of the club is to have fun. Art is the way to have fun."

In an environment full of tests, readings and papers, random art projects are certainly enjoyable, especially for the students who don't usually dabble in the arts. "I like that they are very dedicated to engaging people's creativity--regardless of whether they are an art major or not," said Tilly Woodward, curator of Academic and Public Outreach.

Almost every member of the club is an artist of some kind, and they meet once a week to bounce ideas around, watch YouTube videos, listen to music and talk about art. The club is sort of a think-tank for artistic endeavors. "We just support each other," said Dhakal. "Someone has an idea, we work on it, talk to people, and get it done."

And ARTRA has been getting things done. Last semester they installed a piece on the third floor of ARH entitled "Giving Back" for the Bioneers conference. The club collected aluminum cans from all over campus and arranged them in a frame to create a giant wall of cans that could be removed individually, leaving holes in the wall until the wall collapsed entirely.

"We wanted to represent the environment and how if you extract resources without recycling the environment is going to deteriorate," said Dhakal.

"I thought it was a great project," said Woodward, who helped ARTRA through the process of creating and installing the piece.

Woodward also assisted with last semester's "Chalk and Walk." The group provided colorful chalks and pastels so that passersby could engage in some stress-relief coloring. "It was so much fun, and we're planning on doing it again this semester," said Dhakal.

Other projects on the ARTRA agenda are a video project, which will also incorporate drawings and photography, and hopefully an ExCo class called "Art with ARTRA."

This semester, the small but dynamic club is eager for new members and more creative input. "If we had other members with just as much energy, we could do so much more," said Dhakal. "People don't realize when they put so much effort into something and it finally takes shape it's so wonderful."

ARTRA meets every Saturday from 4-5 in JRC 202.