By Brittany Hege
The goal of the new SCAD Drawing Club is to “celebrate student achievement and student interest in all different types of drawing that may occur across the majors,” drawing professor and faculty coordinator Henry Dean said.
A member of the drawing minor committee, Dean, along with several interested students want the club to act as a “forum where students can come together.”
Students can present their ideas to other people who are not necessarily in their major and get feedback.
The club’s interdisciplinary activities will support the goals of the drawing minor, and on a larger scale, prepare SCAD students for careers.
Members will have the opportunity to promote their work and participate in student-to-student critiques overseen by faculty members from across the majors, as well as learn to administer an art exhibition.
Professor Dean says that the club, as opposed to a class, will “not be so project-oriented.”
Second year fashion design major Eduardo Calvo understands why some students who are less familiar with drawing would shy away from the activity and hopes that the club will break this perception.
“I always loved drawing, and I want to show [students] how much fun they can have with it,” he said.
Dean hopes students will find the club appealing and reminds people that drawing, as a “fundamental activity for artists and designers,” can be both enjoyable and educational.
The new SCAD Drawing Club wishes to reinvigorate drawing with a plethora of pencil-to-paper stimulating activities. One of those ideas is the “sketch crawl.”
“A group of artists go out, wander around town or whatever, and walk around with [their] sketchbooks, drawing as a group,” Dean said.
The potential for field trips to various drawing fairs has been discussed, as well as visiting lectures. The club will be a hands-on endeavor. Dean stressed the importance of student initiative. He hopes that members will step up to the plate and show their leadership capabilities.
“Students are certainly the ones to make it happen,” he said.
Second year animation major Benjamin Castro spoke about the club and feels there is an immediate need to promote student work. He said students should be allowed to promote their work via critique sessions, exhibitions and the like.
As one of the primary developers of the concept for a drawing club, Castro suggested creating a website dedicated to the club, which would call for collaboration with other majors such as graphic design.
Additionally, through such voluntary collaborative efforts, the club wishes to publish a graphic novel or annual publication of student works in the future. This all relies on having involved members.
If anything, Dean wants to stress that the club, as a joint effort, is for anyone interested in drawing, whether they’re in the minor or not.
