DRAWING CLUB GIVES STUDENTS OPPORTUNITY TO EXPLORE AND EXHIBIT

Rin Lack, Tights, 2011, 32" x 10", oil on Masonite.Among the many clubs at Pratt, one new organization is quickly gaining popularity.  Founded this semester, the drawing club has met only a handful of times and already attracted more than 30 members, hosted its first fundraiser, and held an exhibition at a professional gallery.

The club was organized by Nanette Carter, adjunct associate professor in the Fine Arts department, who believes Pratt students need an outlet for creating work that does not follow the constraints of their assignments, as well as an environment where students of all disciplines can hone their drawing skills.  Members test various drawing materials and mediums, and use meeting time both to create and to discuss their work.

Carter says part of the club’s mission is to encourage students to think of drawing as an end in itself.

“The idea is to promote drawing and have a way to produce images that are finished and ready to be seen, as opposed to drawings for preparations for sculpture, paintings, designs, and fashion,” says Carter.

The group meets at 12:30 PM on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the Fishbowl Gallery in the basement of Main Building.  Because of hectic schedules, meetings do not occur regularly and are planned and posted on the club’s Facebook page.

Members hope that the club will attract students from all disciplines. Drohan DiSanto (Critical and Visual Studies ’13) discovered the Drawing Club through students he met during his foundation year pursuing advertising and art direction  His interests directed him to one of Pratt’s liberal arts programs, but he uses the club as an outlet for his visual work.

Pratt students and visitors at the Drawing Club exhibition at FiveMyles gallery in Crown Heights, Brooklyn“I like that they’re starting off on a mixed-media footing,” says DiSanto.  “It’s less mundane and it draws more people into the club.”

The Drawing Club’s first exhibition opened on March 11 and ran for one week at FiveMyles, a not-for-profit gallery in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.  The event was partially coordinated by club president Angela Kang, who works at the gallery.  Pieces were chosen through a competition juried by the club’s officers.  The exhibition featured work by 27 students, among them painters, sculptors, and animation students. 

“Drawing is so universal,” says Kang, “no matter what you do you’re going to start with a drawing.  Your brainstorm is your sketch.”

The club is planning some ambitious events for the future.  Members threw a yard sale at last month’s Spring Fest to raise funds for a field trip to visit museums in Philadelphia.  The club also plans to invite professional artists from outside the Pratt community to come and critique members’ work. 

Those interested in attending the next meeting can visit the drawing club’s Facebook page for more information. 

— Benjamin Korman

Photo: Carol Hu