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
Pop-up West Harlem!
Today, we launch a special series of pop-up installations serving West Harlem. First stop: Sheltering Arms Pool, where our BUILD NYC program (interactive building stations, playful materials, design challenges) will land every Friday through...
DRAW NYC pops up on 8th Street in the Village
Our pop-up drawing studio landed on 8th St in the Village for a NYC DOT Weekend Walk hosted by Village Alliance DMA. Thanks to our partner NYC DOT and Blick Art Materials. DRAW NYC is made possible at Weekend Walks in part with generous support from Lisa...
DRAW on Woodside Ave in Queens
On Saturday, April 28, the Uni Project deployed our DRAW program to Songkran Weekend Walk in Elmhurst, Queens, hosted by the Thai Community USA NYC. Thanks to our partner NYC DOT, and to Blick for a third year of art materials! DRAW is made possible at...
Founding Sponsors
Fabiola Salmán
Betty Chen &
Peter Coombe
Laura & Robert
Fleder
Romy &
David Cohen
Karen & Dan
Taylor
Evgenia Peretz
