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Sketchy
August 21, 2007
![Burlingame's Snake Charmer and its interpretation.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090109015509im_/http://americanart.si.edu/eyelevel/images/sketchy_1983.90.214_1a.jpg)
Left: Dennis Burlingame's Snake Charmer from SAAM's collection. Right: Sketching workshop participant Arielle Sandor's interpretation.
When we talk about creating Web sites or interpretive materials for the museum I always think about promoting the idea that artists aren't a clan of exotic space aliens but are regular people who look at the world, think about it, and channel their reactions and decisions into making works of art. One of my hopes is that visitors to SAAM will feel that they too can make art and that they'll want to pick up a pencil or paintbrush when they get home. Apparently some get started even before they leave the building.
Luce Foundation Center for American Art Coordinator Georgina Bath has been telling me about the weekly sketching workshops they run in the Luce Center, an open-storage facility in the museum that offers more than 3,300 works of art to sketch from.
Georgina writes:
We've been running a sketching workshop in the Luce Center every Tuesday since December, and have built up a small following! Attendees gather in the Luce Center at the beginning for a brief discussion of artists' sketches, then spend an hour drawing from the multitude of objects on display.
The theme last week was heads and bodies and the sketchers were challenged to try blind contour drawing—where you look at the object but not at your drawing; and continuous line drawing—where you try and draw the entire image without lifting your pen from the page. Luce Center staffers supply different materials each week and this week we were using very smelly calligraphy pens. Once everyone had recovered from the fumes, we gathered together again to discuss what we had done. Arielle Sandor from New Jersey sketched the wonderful image (above) of Snake Charmer by Dennis Burlingame and Nesta Lewis from D.C. did this rendering of I Baptize Thee by William H. Johnson.
Apparently it's not uncommon for Georgina to have a participant thank her for giving him/her an excuse to start drawing again. So many people used to draw or paint or do pottery or sculpture when they were younger but gradually give it up for other things. (Although many attendees are young enough to have never stopped.)
The program takes place every Tuesday at 3. (But check the calendar before coming down.)
- Drawing, Dennis Burlingame, William H. Johnson, Luce Foundation Center for American Art, American Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum
Posted by Mike on August 21, 2007 in In This Case: Luce Foundation Center
Comments
I hadn't drawn since junior high art class when I (pretty much on a whim) signed up for the Smithsonian's Resident Associates drawing class. The first few weeks were tough, wondering why I was there, but the instructor was incredibly encouraging and I had a great time. I've taken other classes since and recommend it to everyone. It's amazing how much we believe what we were told (you're not artistic) and how much fun we can have when we ignore that.
Posted by: Lisa | Aug 21, 2007
Wow! I never thought that my artwork would be on display on a website!
I love the workshops because it was an hour where we could draw anything any way we want any explore different techniques with different mediums and utensils.
It was really fantastic.
Posted by: Arielle Sandor | Aug 21, 2007
Love the blog! Love the sketch class! Love SAAM! Thanks for the fun program and for providing me an opportunity to exercise the right side of my brain.
Posted by: Cecelia Rogers | Aug 22, 2007
Hey you're welcome Cecilia and Arielle - - our pleasure! And I like Lisa's story too. I have the feeling that there are a lot of artists and lapsed artists out there and we've been trying to think about how to cater to you as an audience. My sense of it is that, as a group, you have tremendous enthusiasm and I like that!!!
Posted by: Mike | Aug 22, 2007
Art is from the heart and mind, and the Smithsonian has been doing a magnificent job of portraying American history through the eyes of artists.
Posted by: William Masek | Aug 27, 2007
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