The staleness of the local arts community is a topic often debated among students at Penn State, and it's also something one group of students is looking to change.

Members of Students Organized for Multiple Arts Appreciation (SOMA) are hoping to change the unnoticed arts community with a new club and enthusiastic attitudes.

President Danny Greene (sophomore-information sciences and technology) said he came up with the plan freshman year while eating pizza with his friends.

"We basically all had the same complaints about State College," Greene said.

The complaint heard again and again by his friends is that there is a lack of exposure to original art, be it in music or professional juggling.

"We're probably the only club at Penn State that has a juggling scene," Greene said.

Greene was not alone in the venture and had plenty of support from his friends.

Sitting in a pizza shop, they look like any normal group of Penn State students, which was one of the group's main aims in starting SOMA.

"There are just so many awesome subcultures here, and we want SOMA to be a melting pot for them," member Mitchell Carney (sophomore-information sciences and technology) said.

The basic idea for SOMA is to take the numerous clubs, social circles and artistic geniuses at Penn State and act as a central hub for all of them.

By encouraging conversation among and within the arts, SOMA hopes to create a fresh, invigorating artistic renaissance.

"Essentially we are middlemen in the process, but I think it'll work better," SOMA member Henry Hund (sophomore-information sciences and technology) said.

Along with stimulating conversation, the group is hoping to find more places for students to show their work.

"The biggest shame is that there is just so limited exposure to what students are creating here," SOMA member Laura Anderson (sophomore-art) said.

However, experimenting with new venues for art shows is not the only hurdle that SOMA must jump.

"Some students think that what they're making isn't good enough to show," Greene said. "We really want to encourage, support and promote all forms of original art so that artists are more likely to increase."

Member Melissa May (sophomore-environmental resource management) said she believes that the group can also expose students to different art forms, an experience students might not have otherwise.

"Ideally, we want to have functions with all forms of art, in a kind of coffeehouse setting," Greene said. "Maybe start off with a standup comedian, then a couple of skits, then a have a band play."

But the group knows it needs to start at the bottom.

"We want to start small right now but see how far we can run with it," Greene said.

The group is currently working with No Refund Theatre and the Student Film Organization to cultivate their cause, but their ambitions run much deeper.

"I really hope to bring better bands to State College," Greene said. "I've been speaking to a lot of people, and I don't think they know what students are listening to today."