Our 2018 season is getting underway, and you can help us add something special—drawing at street festivals.

Here’s the backstory: neighborhood groups have begun asking permission from NYC Department of Transportation to close local streets on weekends so residents can create events and come together. The result is often like a block party or an Italian passeggiata—decidedly local and refreshingly non-commercial—and it is building steam across the city. We admire the local groups creating these events. They want to change what’s on the street to better reflect what they aspire for themselves and their neighborhoods. And they are asking for our help to do it.

Last year we were able to provide pop-up reading rooms (our READ program) to street festivals, and now groups want DRAW, our open-air drawing studio, as well. Requests are coming in, and we want to say yes to them all. To pull this off, we will rely on a truck-sharing partnership with NYC DOT that helped us take READ to 71 locations in 2017, and our friends Lisa Brown and Daniel Handler have made a generous contribution to get things off the ground.

Here’s how you can help:
* Donate to help us hire staff and expand our artist-in-residence program. 
* Grab a blurb and a photo and spread the word! 
* Artists and illustrators: apply to be a 2018 Artist in Residence or share a prompt to inspire New Yorkers.

Contact us to get involved. Thanks for your support!

—Leslie and Sam Davol, Co-founders of the Uni Project

 

Help bring drawing to 2018 Street Festivals in New York City!

2018 DRAW NYC Sponsors:

Lisa Brown &
Daniel Handler

Become a sponsor!

 

2018 Supporters:

DRAW NYC is made possible in part with public funds from Creative Engagement, supported by New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

DRAW NYC is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Materials donated by:

Blick Art Materials has generously donated high-quality art materials to DRAW NYC since 2015.

Here are some of the locations where we plan to visit:

  • Songkran street festival on Woodside Ave, Elmhurst, Queens, organized by Thai Community USA.
  • Community festival on Westchester Ave in the Bronx, organized by Westchester Square BID.
  • Anniversary event for Parkside Plaza , Brooklyn, organized by the Parkside Committee.
  • Asian Pacific American Heritage festival on Mott St in Chinatown, by Chinatown Partnership.
  • “Be on Belmont” festival, Osborn St Plaza, Brooklyn, by Brownsville Community Justice Center.
  • Positively 8th St festival on W 8th St in the West Village, organized by the Village Alliance.
  • Summer Sundays on 157th Street in Washington Heights, by Community League of the Heights.
  • Northside Festival on Bedford Ave in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, organized by Northside Inc.
  • Make Music NY event at St Marks Place in Brooklyn, organized by the North Flatbush Ave BID.
  • Worldwide Woodside festival on Woodside Ave in Flushing, Queens, by Woodside on the Move.
  • Hamilton Heights Weekend Walk on W141st St in Hamilton Heights, by West Harlem CPO.