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
The Uni at the Central Park Zoo with The Drawing Center
Every Saturday in May, the Uni DRAW cart will transformed into a field station of the Department of Tropical Research at the Central Park Zoo, where visitors can draw from specimens and learn how ecologist William Beebe and his team of scientists worked with...
Uni READ, DRAW, SOLVE at Jennings Play Street in Bronx
This summer, we are once again deploying to play streets in Harlem and the Bronx. Today, I worked one of our favorites, run by Caldwell Programs in Morrisania. I hung out, and took some photos, let the kids take photos, and gathered feedback for our new...
Uni goes “Under the Viaduct” in West Harlem
On July 16th, the Uni transformed a block of 12th Avenue under the viaduct at a festival called “Under the Viaduct” organized by Savona Bailey-McClain and her West Harlem Art Fund. Check out the moss below!
Founding Sponsors
Fabiola Salmán
Betty Chen &
Peter Coombe
Laura & Robert
Fleder
Romy &
David Cohen
Karen & Dan
Taylor
Evgenia Peretz
