{"id":4319,"date":"2014-06-06T00:24:07","date_gmt":"2014-06-06T07:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=4319"},"modified":"2014-06-06T12:58:36","modified_gmt":"2014-06-06T19:58:36","slug":"all-ages-and-ability-levels-are-welcome-at-draw-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2014\/06\/06\/all-ages-and-ability-levels-are-welcome-at-draw-down\/","title":{"rendered":"All ages, abilities welcome at Draw Down event"},"content":{"rendered":"

Artist Jody Kramer will be leading one of Draw Down’s many free workshops. (photo by Olga Livshin)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Vancouver Draw Down, a city-wide festival of drawing, is turning five this summer. In 2010, it started as a collaboration between the Roundhouse Community Centre, the Museum of Anthropology at University of British Columbia and the Vancouver Art Gallery, but its roots are found in the United Kingdom and its charitable Big Draw campaign. Their motto reads: \u201cDrawing helps us to understand our world and to interpret and communicate ideas. We campaign to improve visual literacy. The campaign has one aim \u2013 to get everyone drawing!\u201d<\/p>\n

Marie Lopes, a Roundhouse programmer of arts, culture and environment and one of the founding members of the event in Vancouver, said, \u201cThe name Draw Down was inspired by our goal to help people get over the idea that drawing is a precious, frightening activity only practised by artists who have some kind of a mystical talent. Many people who do not think of themselves as artists see drawing as a dividing line between artists and non-artists. We hope to inspire people to get over their performance anxiety and just throw down and draw. We seek to reveal that drawing is a way to think, to dream, to plan and explain, to map, to share ideas and stories, to spend time together, to laugh. It\u2019s intensely satisfying and a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Lopes, in the first year, the Draw Down hosted free workshops at the Roundhouse, MOA, VAG and four community centres, with about a dozen artists participating. \u201cIn the four years since we started, we have grown to [more than] 43 free workshops, happening in all 23 Park Board community centres and 20 arts partner venues as diverse as Satellite Gallery and Mountainview Cemetery. We\u2019re hoping to see over 5,000 \u2018drawers\u2019 coming out on the Draw Down day,\u201d which will be June 14.<\/p>\n

One of the artists who will be leading a workshop, called Dragon Ball, at Strathcona Community Centre is Jody Kramer, a local artist and animation filmmaker. In an interview with the Independent<\/em>, Kramer said that this will be her second time participating in the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, Marie Lopes called me and asked if I would lead a workshop. I agreed. My workshop was stationed under the Main Street Poodle on Main and 17th. Of course, our theme was a poodle. Over 100 people came to my station to draw during the three hours of my time block. This year, I\u2019ll be leading a workshop at Strathcona. We\u2019ll be drawing basketball players and turning them into dragons.\u201d<\/p>\n

The theme isn\u2019t mandatory for participants, just a prompt for those who don\u2019t know where to start. \u201cAnyone who comes to draw with us will have lots of creative freedom,\u201d assured Kramer. \u201cIt\u2019s about exploration, making your mark on the world. You don\u2019t have to be an artist to draw. You just have to be brave.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"image<\/a>
Jody Kramer, a self-portrait by the artist.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kramer said people of all ages came to her drawing session under the poodle: toddlers with parents and senior citizens, art students and neighbors. \u201cChildren always draw; they are curious and not afraid. Adults often think that there is only one way to draw, the legitimate way, so they stand aside and let professionals do the job, but artists have been challenging such assumptions for generations, breaking with rules. Anyone can draw. There is no right way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her goal is to see everyone who comes to her workshop drawing and happy, \u201cto see their eyes light up with their own ideas,\u201d although she is always ready to answer questions and provide guidance. \u201cI like to give people confidence,\u201d she said. \u201cLet\u2019s take away the idea of beautiful, high art. Let\u2019s simplify art. You don\u2019t have to be Emily Carr. You can draw a map and still make your mark.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kramer herself has always liked art but she didn\u2019t consider herself a professional artist until she was in her 20s. \u201cI always doodled, made up stories in pictures, but I didn\u2019t know any professional artists. I thought I would be a writer or a teacher. After university, I worked in an office and I finally met people my age from Emily Carr. Then, I knew. I listened to them talk and I understood them. So, I went back to school, to Emily Carr, to study animation and I loved it. Still do. It makes me feel alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

To date, Kramer has created several animated shorts, quirky and expressive visual narratives that make people smile. She produces them in the old-fashioned way \u2013 by drawing. \u201cEach film takes about two or three reams of paper [a ream is 500 sheets] for five minutes of film time, 12 pictures per second,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

She also has taught art, but pointed out that she doesn\u2019t like a classroom setting. \u201cI like teaching in a public environment. I worked as an educator for the Vancouver Art Gallery, conducted school tours and kids activities. I also worked for the R2R Film Festival, where children watch movies and make movies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Creating art in any form and shape makes her happy, and she will try to instil the same delight in everyone who comes to her drawing station on June 14. To learn more about Kramer\u2019s art, visit jukimuseum.com<\/a>; for more information on Drawn Down, visit vancouverdrawdown.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Olga Livshin <\/strong>is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at olgagodim@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Artist Jody Kramer will be leading one of Draw Down’s many free workshops. (photo by Olga Livshin) Vancouver Draw Down, a city-wide festival of drawing, is turning five this summer. In 2010, it started as a collaboration between the Roundhouse Community Centre, the Museum of Anthropology at University of British Columbia and the Vancouver Art […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4278,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[989],"tags":[1269,1270,1271],"class_list":["post-4319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-visual-arts","tag-draw-down","tag-jody-kramer","tag-marie-lopes"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}