The Big Draw, formerly the Campaign for Drawing, is a British registered charity that promotes drawing and visual literacy. It was founded in 2000 by the
Guild of St George
The Guild of St George is a charitable Education Trust, based in England but with a worldwide membership, which tries to uphold the values and put into practice the ideas of its founder, John Ruskin (1819–1900).
History
Ruskin, a Victorian p ...
, and is now an independent charity.
The Big Draw believes that drawing is a universal language that can unite people across generations, backgrounds and borders. It is inspired by the
Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literature ...
artist and writer,
John Ruskin, whose mission was not to teach people how to draw, but how to see. An arts educational charity, the Campaign demonstrates that drawing is a
life skill
Life skills are abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable humans to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of life. This concept is also termed as psychosocial competency. The subject varies greatly depending on social norm ...
: an essential tool for learning, expression and invention. Its publications for teachers and other educators provide comprehensive evidence that drawing supports formal and informal
learning
Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, value (personal and cultural), values, attitudes, and preferences. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals, and some machine learning, machines ...
.
The charity leads a programme of advocacy, empowerment and engagement, and is the driving force behind The Big Draw Festival – the world's biggest celebration of drawing.
The charity supports established and emerging artists through The John Ruskin Prize and exhibition, and regular events, awards and competitions.
The Big Draw manages collaborative research projects, campaigns and educational conferences on visual literacy, digital technology and STEAM (Science, Technology, Art, Maths, Science).
The Big Draw Festival
The Big Draw charity is the founder and driving force behind The Big Draw Festival, which takes place each year in over 20 countries around the world.
Events often take place at notable venues throughout the UK including
The British Museum,
The National Gallery and
Victoria and Albert Museum as well as schools, community centres, parks and village halls. The 2013 Big Draw highlight event offered visitors 20 activities in the new Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Previous launches were held at the Natural History Museum, V&A (twice), Trafalgar Square, St Pancras International Station, Welcome Collection and the British Library.
Partnerships
The Big Draw receives no core funding. Previously, it has been sponsored by bodies as diverse as NESTA,
Arts Council England
Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...
(ACE),
Crayola,
Daler-Rowney,
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation,
Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Barbara Whatmore Charitable Trust,
Financial Times,
Heritage Lottery Fund,
National Lottery,
Persil
Persil is a German brand of laundry detergent manufactured and marketed by Henkel around the world except in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Latin America (except Mexico), China, Australia and New Zealand, where it is manufactured and mar ...
,
Puffin
Puffins are any of three species of small alcids (auks) in the bird genus ''Fratercula''. These are pelagic seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water. They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in crev ...
,
Royal Academy of Engineering
The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering.
The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senior ...
,
Royal Institute of British Architects, Derwent and Cass Art.
Patrons
*
Quentin Blake CBE
*Lord
Norman Foster
*
David Hockney CH
*
Andrew Marr
*Sir
Roger Penrose
Sir Roger Penrose (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, philosopher of science and Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford, an emeritus fello ...
OM
*
Gerald Scarfe
*
Posy Simmonds
Rosemary Elizabeth "Posy" Simmonds MBE, FRSL (born 9 August 1945) is a British newspaper cartoonist, and writer and illustrator of both children's books and graphic novels. She is best known for her long association with ''The Guardian'', for wh ...
MBE
*
Chris Riddell
*Narinder Sagoo
*
Bob and Roberta Smith
Patrick Brill (born 1963), better known by his pseudonym Bob and Roberta Smith, is a British contemporary artist, writer, author, musician, art education advocate, and keynote speaker. He is known for his "slogan" art, is an associate professor ...
RA
See also
*
List of European art awards
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campaign For Drawing
Drawing
Visual arts education
British art awards
Art and design organizations