Some folks say, “You gotta have art!”

Thanks to the initiative of a local mother and her children, the students at Leonard Elementary do.

Almont residents Carrie Muir and her kids, Piper and Charles McFarlin, are the founders of a school art club that meets on Mondays from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

“We’ve been doing this every Monday since before Halloween,” said Muir, a 1996 Oxford High School graduate.

The club provides kids in first through fifth grade with the hands-on opportunity to explore the various materials and methods used by artists to express themselves. According to Muir, they’ve done everything from water colors and clay to metal sculpture and faux glass blowing.

“It’s pretty cool,” she said. “I really do enjoy giving the kids the chance to do something that they are proud of.”

“When you’re not a sports kid in Oxford, it’s sometimes hard to find something to do,” noted Muir, who attended Leonard for her elementary school years.

Freedom of expression is an integral part of the art club mission, so the students get to “create what they want” and they don’t have to worry about it being judged, according to Muir.

“There’s no grading,” she said.

With each new project, students learn how to look at things in different ways, solve problems and work with all sorts of materials, all of which will come in handy later in life when they’re adults pursuing careers in the real world, according to Muir.

“I honestly, truly believe that art touches every single profession somehow,” she said.

The club runs in six-week sessions.

It started with 10 kids and grew from there. The current session has 27 kids participating. The previous session was bursting at the seams with 34 kids.

“I had to turn a few away,” said Muir, who has a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Oakland University. “It’s a lot of fun. I like watching the kids work together.”

Muir loves the fact that art club kids have developed a high level of confidence in both themselves and their skills. She said they’re actually showing their schoolmates how to do things they’ve learned through the club.

Neither the school nor the PTO provides any funding for the club.

Instead, Muir charges each student $20 per six-week session and all the money is spent on art supplies and materials, snacks and beverages.

“There’s no profit being made,” she noted.

Muir is planning to have art club members choose their favorite pieces and display them as part of a special exhibition at the school.

“The kids have been making some amazing things,” she said.