One club at Penn State is working to embrace the handmade aspect that goes into creating art by showing members how to create and bind sketchbooks themselves.

Members can create their own work of art with their hands and fill it with even more works of art of their own. Whether you haven’t picked up a pen since high school or are a seasoned artist, the Sketchbook Club invites Penn Staters to bind their own book, get creative, and to build a community.

Sketchbook Club creator Cori Chen initially formed a version of the group in her high school, where she learned from a teacher how to create sketchbooks. Shortly after, they started their own club based on bookbinding.

“I knew I was gonna come here, and I was like, it’d be really fun to have a club here,” Chen said. Chen formed the Sketchbook Club at Penn State in 2023 after she arrived at University Park from a branch campus.

The beginning of the semester is when members gather their materials and create their sketchbooks together. Materials are provided by the club and include wax linen thread, paper, and cardboard/chipboard for the cover. Members will then work to fill their sketchbook throughout the rest of the semester.

“I work with my event planner to create weekly prompts to guide people on what to draw,” Chen said.

The environment of the meetings is very laid-back, and will often involve members watching videos, playing games, or just chatting as they work on their sketches.

“I think my club focuses the most on community. It doesn’t matter if your skills are what you think they should be. Like, it’s all about having fun, drawing, and being around other people who enjoy weird things because, like, usually art, I feel like, happens in all sorts of communities. So then it brings people together,” Chen said.

At the end of meetings, something Chen likes to do to help bring everyone closer to each other is to gather into a circle, where everyone is able to show their artwork they created for that day.

“Even if it’s like ‘oh, I just did my homework,’ everyone still claps for you,” Chen said.

The Sketchbook Club meets in Walker 9 from 6 to 8 p.m. on Fridays. It is open to graduate and undergraduate Penn State students.