DRAW
Pop-up art studio
DRAW is an open-air drawing studio, offering access to fine art materials and a place to draw together in public. Designed for New Yorkers of all ages and always free, elements include:
- high-quality paper, pencils, charcoal, drawing boards, and tools for drawing
- prompts for drawing, conceived by artists and educators
- art books for inspiration
- benches for seating and a custom-designed cart that stores, moves, and displays the collection
- a “street gallery” displaying drawings made by other New Yorkers
staff who set up and run the program
The program can also include teaching artists and options for local organizations and businesses to add special activities (e.g. a still-life display from a local florist).
Here’s what happens: people of all ages approach, sit down, pick up materials, and begin drawing. Some follow artist prompts or are introduced to different materials like blending sticks and watercolor pencils by our staff. Some draw for a short time, others for much longer. People feel good to be drawing together and are transformed into artists, no matter their skill level, on a public stage.
This program has served New Yorkers since 2015.
Help bring drawing to all NYC neighborhoods.
From our Artists in Residence
“I felt like some moments could change something, maybe one moment could change someone’s life.”
— 2017 AIR Luyi Wang
“What I enjoyed most were the personal interactions I had..Being an AIR strengthened my desire to take a more active role as an artist in my community, and to engage with the public more as an artist and art educator.”
— 2015 AIR Susan Coyne
“Most of all, I appreciated the opportunity to connect with members of so many different communities in NYC through art, rather than producing work as an anonymous observer.”
— 2015 AIR Genevieve Irwin
Materials donated by
Blick Art Materials has generously donated high-quality art materials to DRAW NYC since 2015.
The Drawing Center has generously donated a number of its Drawing Papers and provided passes for free admission to its galleries in SoHo.
Supporters
DRAW is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
Updates about DRAW
Three Uni Project programs on the street in Two Bridges: READ, DRAW, EXPLORE
Today, we landed in Chinatown with three of our favorite programs, READ, DRAW, and EXPLORE, at a NYC DOT Weekend Walk, hosted by the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council. Passersby enjoyed a curated collection of books at our pop-up reading room. They drew at...
Making a place for learning at NYC summer play streets
The Uni Project has brought learning to NYC play streets since 2013, and this year we deployed our newest program BUILD NYC to play streets at Butler and Forest Houses (NYCHA) hosted by the Police Athletic League (PAL). One of our goals was to work with play street...
Uni Project’s DRAW NYC in Bronx with Blick Art Materials, NYC DOT, Bronx Museum.
Today, the Uni Project created an open-air art studio at a community street festival hosted by the Bronx Museum of the Arts. Uni Project Artist-in-Residence Courtney Menard shared her print-making with passersby, and we were joined by staff from Blick's store on 125th...
Founding Sponsors
Fabiola Salmán
Betty Chen &
Peter Coombe
Laura & Robert
Fleder
Romy &
David Cohen
Karen & Dan
Taylor
Evgenia Peretz
