Jul. 27, 2011 - Issue #823: The Naked Truth

Prevue

Draw

Now in its sixth iteration of bringing Edmonton's artist-run centres into a visual jamboree, Draw plays out like a dream day for the artistically inclined: a full bevy of supplies laid out for you, free for use, and chances to try your artistic hand at different styles and in mediums you may have always considered, but never had an opportunity to. And, in Latitude 53's case, there's a chance to indulge in the sort of dream that might have been with you since childhood.

"I think we're going to switch it around a little bit this year, so we're gonna be [putting up] some of your grandmother's basement wallpaper on the walls to draw on," laughs Chelsea Boida. "Hopefully that's going to inspire people to do what they've always wanted to do in those downstairs living rooms."

Boida is one of two coordinators at the Latitude 53 portion of Draw, which caps off the day of artistic indulgence with, yes, walls to draw all over, but also a scratch animation workshop courtesy of FAVA and a collage-a-thon that you can cut and paste together to your heart's desire (as well a live DJ). Earlier in the day, the other artist-run centres in town have their own agendas: SNAP's got a kite-making/stencilling workshop in the afternoon, while Harcourt House is, also in the afternoon, offering up life drawing sessions with models both clothed and "au naturel," as well as a round or two  of exquisite corps, a chance to make collective creation.
And it's that sense of collaborative spirit that excited Boida, who's helping coordinate Draw for the first time.

"Things that strike me most about it are how it helps to build a community and how it helps to introduce people to each other," says Boida. "This doesn't always mean face-to-face contact, but even just working in the same room as people who you know are involved with the arts, or maybe you don't even know what their work looks like, but they're making something interesting, and it's a fun thing to do."

"It really changes how you think about drawing: often it's a private activity, you don't feel that same sort of risk when you're doing it in front of people. But here, I think it helps, because a lot of people are taking risks together, and hopefully it ends up working out collaboratively, and whether that's a low level of collaboration—having a haphazard drawing next to somebody else's—or if the drawings actually end up interacting."
 

Sat, Jul 30 (noon)
Hosted at Harcourt House, Latitude 53, SNAP
Free
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