THE BIG DRAW
Guest contribution by Kimberley Baker
The first-ever Big Draw in Canada was held in Vancouver on May 11th - 13th, 2007. Modeled on similar, annual drawing campaigns in the U.K., Australia and the U.S., the Big Draw comprised of a series of drawing activities designed to encourage "knowing through drawing" for the general public.
The original "Campaign for Drawing" was initiated in the United Kingdom in 2000 by The Guild of St. George, a charity founded by John Ruskin, the great Victorian artist, writer and visionary. Ruskin saw drawing as the basis of visual thought.
Three organizations took part in the pilot to see if the Big Draw could be done in Vancouver: the Belkin Gallery, Vancouver Art Gallery and the Museum of Anthropology and Art Education at UBC, joined forces to present a variety of drawing activities.
On Friday, May 11th , the Museum of Anthropology created a special drawing activity entitled A is for Artifact, for students in grades 3 to 5. In this hour long drawing activity, each class drew all the pages of an alphabet book with each letter drawn from things students found, saw, or imagined in or around the Museum. Over 400 elementary students attended the A is for Artifact drawing activity.
The Museum of Anthropology would like to thank Opus Framing & Art Supplies for their donation of art supplies for this activity, which contributed greatly to the success of the event.
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