Florida Atlantic University’s Latino Hispanic Association hosted its first event of the semester, “Noche de Arte”, a fun gathering where students participated in arts and crafts on Tuesday night, in the Boca Raton Student Union on Sept. 16. 

With September being the month of Hispanic Heritage Month, Mejia found that now was the time to outwardly represent Latin and Hispanic culture while allowing current, new, and future club members to break the ice. 

“Noche de Arte” or Art Night, served as LHA’s introductory activity of the semester. LHA’s president, Sylvana Mejia, continued the established theme of starting the semester with an art night, as has been done since the club’s start in 2023. 

Mejia, a senior majoring in biological sciences, founded LHA, alongside Gabriela Rodriguez, in February 2023. Mejia and Rodriguez were inspired to start the club after not seeing a lot of active Latino and Hispanic-centered organizations at FAU. 

Mejia felt that it was very important to be loud and proud about Latin and Hispanic culture.

“Noche de Arte is a good icebreaker event to meet people. It’s a really good way to integrate everybody,” said Mejia. “It’s really important right now to be really proud of our cultures and our heritage, no matter what.”

Reggaeton music and popular bachata, both genres of music prevalent within the Latin-American community, filled the Grand Palm rooms as Mejia and the rest of LHA’s E-board watched as dozens of students cycled in and out of the event as they painted, sculpted, and made friends with other students. 

Lisa Pajak, a sophomore studying biological sciences, heard about the event through her friend, Reina Septimo. Septimo is also on LHA’s executive board, serving as the vice president of event planning. Pajak decided to attend the event to connect more with her Latin culture. 

“I’m half Peruvian, and I’ve never really taught my culture, so I just want to immerse myself with other Latinos,” Pajak said as she painted the sunset with pretty little plants. “I was a little nervous to come, but everyone I’ve met was super nice.” 

Like Pajak, Zoey Sanchez, a freshman majoring in communications, sees herself attending more of LHA’s events. Sanchez found out about “Noche de Arte” through Instagram. For art night, Sanchez painted a picture of a butterfly and a flower. 

Of Salvadoran and Spanish descent, Sanchez attended the art night to get closer to her culture as well, seeing these events as places to meet new people she wouldn’t normally see around campus.

“I would definitely come to more LHA events, I think it just gives me an opportunity to meet new people, and I wanted to connect to my culture,” said Sanchez. “It’s so nice to just have a community.”

Mejia pointed out the importance of LHA, making every student feel welcome, every culture, and every heritage. 

“It’s spreading awareness, it’s not just Hispanic culture, it’s Colombian, Mexican, Venezuelan, Argentinian, Spanish culture. Everybody’s different, and we want to welcome that, highlight that, and celebrate it. That’s what LHA is all about,” said Mejia.

Kaii Thompson is the Culture Reporter for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email kaiiliburdthompson@gmail.com.