sign up/login
The Big Draw
  • Festival Festival
    • About The Big Draw Festival
    • All events
    • Awards
    • Care UK & The Big Draw Festival 2020
    • Covid-19: Information & Guidance
    • Organisers Area
    • Sponsor Partners 2020
    • The Big Green Draw: A Climate of Change 2020
    • Vote
    • What the Organisers Say
  • Blog Blog
    • Support Support
      • Shop Shop
        • Gallery Gallery
          • Our Work Our Work
            • About Us
            • Contact
            • Drawing in Schools
            • FAQ's
            • Opportunities
            • Press
            • The Big Draw Ambassadors
            • The Big Draw Patrons
            • The Big Draw Turns 20!
            • The Big Draw x Forest of Imagination
            • The Ruskin Prize


          Membership area

          Drawing Changes Lives

          The Big Draw
          • Festival Festival
            • About The Big Draw Festival
            • All events
            • Awards
            • Care UK & The Big Draw Festival 2020
            • Covid-19: Information & Guidance
            • Organisers Area
            • Sponsor Partners 2020
            • The Big Green Draw: A Climate of Change 2020
            • Vote
            • What the Organisers Say
          • Blog Blog
            • Support Support
              • Shop Shop
                • Gallery Gallery
                  • Our Work Our Work
                    • About Us
                    • Contact
                    • Drawing in Schools
                    • FAQ's
                    • Opportunities
                    • Press
                    • The Big Draw Ambassadors
                    • The Big Draw Patrons
                    • The Big Draw Turns 20!
                    • The Big Draw x Forest of Imagination
                    • The Ruskin Prize

                  Membership area

                  The World's Biggest Drawing Festival


                  Why I love The Big Draw

                  BY KATIE THEODOROS

                  The way I feel about the Big Draw is sort of the way I felt about The New Kids on The Block circa 1989.  Well, minus the school-girl crushes.  Just like the 8-year-old me prepared for stardom by practicing the dance moves to You Got The Right Stuff in front of my bedroom mirror, the 25-year-old me prepared for an art education career by envisioning taking part in events like the Big Draw.  So when I started working at PEM, you can imagine how excited I was when they welcomed this vision.

                  Not only did PEM run a Big Draw event in October 2013, but we won the Trailblazer Drawing Inspiration Award, one of three given out by the Campaign for Drawing.  The award recognizes “Inspirational organizers and their boundless energy and willingness to push the boundaries of their organization.”  And to make matters even more exciting, I was able to travel to London and attend the award ceremony on April 28th with Juliette Fritsch, PEM’s chief of education and interpretation.

                  edit 30
                  Katie Theodoros and Juliette Fritsch at Big Draw Awards Ceremony, Painter’s Hall, London. Photo Credit: Eliza Power

                  Why am I so excited about the Big Draw?  Drawing has always been a big part of my life. I’m good at it. (Just to balance out that statement, I want to point out that there are many many things that I am not good at.)  For instance, I could never (and still can’t) remember my times tables, or spell most words correctly or sit still in a classroom for more than two minutes. But ask me to draw a something line for line, to record my thoughts abstractly with colored pencils and sit completely focused in the art studio for hours at a time…no problem.

                  20130380_0015
                  PEM’s special concoction of sidewalk paint was a popular activity. Photo by Kathy Tarantola/PEM

                  The Big Draw isn’t necessarily for drawing enthusiasts like me.  It’s for people who don’t draw, or who think they can’t draw, and it’s to overturn the notion that there is a “right way” to draw. The simplicity of The Campaign for Drawing is alluring; it is to get everyone drawing.  They have managed to build a huge international following based on that, with hundreds of thousands of people taking part each year, many of whom, at some point in their lives have probably said “I can’t draw.”

                  20130380_0152
                  PEM guests immersed in our Zentangle activity run by artist Aimee Michaels. Photo by Kathy Tarantola/PEM

                  Drawing is often overlooked, sometimes looked-down upon, however, its importance is widespread and the evidence is everywhere.  The chair you are sitting on, the clothes you’re wearing, the building that surrounds you, the computer you’re using, they all began with sketches and drawings by designers, architects and engineers.  So I say, it’s time we all start drawing, to help us understand the world around us, to bring us together and share something we can all do.

                  20130523_1639
                  Emily Larsen, production designer at PEM, starts to draw a crowd with her large mural featured at the main entrance on Big Draw weekend. Photo by Allison White/PEM

                  We are gearing up for 2014 Big Draw at PEM on October 11th.  The buzz has already started to move through PEM.  This is certainly going to be a team effort.  Many staff love the concept and are jumping on board to help out.  I hope this excitement spreads to our community in Salem and its many visitors during the month of October and I hope to see everyone drawing!

                  20130523_1664

                  Photo by Allison White/PEM


                  20130380_0102

                   Photo by Kathy Tarantola/PEM

                  20130380_0111

                  Photo by Kathy Tarantola/PEM

                  facebook twitter instagram pinterest YouTube
                  Find an event

                  search Advanced search »

                  Receive Big Draw News

                  Subscribe to our mailing list

                  Add me to the list
                  STEAM Powered Big Draw in Berwick
                  STEAM Powered Big Draw in Berwick
                  Berwick Visual Arts
                  'feel the love'
                  St Edmunds Nursery School and Childrens Centre
                  Creatures engineered by the pupils come to life on the lawn
                  Creatures engineered by the pupils come to life on the lawn
                  Loughborough High School
                  Our youngest visitor at the Get Drawing @Chatsworth workshops in the Garden
                  Our youngest visitor at the Get Drawing @Chatsworth workshops in the Garden
                  Devonshire Educational Trust
                  Year 5 artwork by Henry
                  Year 5 artwork by Henry
                  St Leonards CE Primary School
                  'Out of the Maze'
                  Bethlem Museum of the Mind
                  A Kearsney discovery: thud
                  A Kearsney discovery: thud
                  Dover Arts Development
                  linear sculptures
                  linear sculptures
                  Ribchester St Wilfrid's CE Primary School
                  in the evening light 2
                  in the evening light 2
                  Craven College
                  Pre-school animation with (very) Young Animators Club
                  Pre-school animation with (very) Young Animators Club
                  Young Animators Club (Community Interest Company)
                  IV Festival de Dibujo 2016Nuestras congratulaciones a Mariel Consuelo Zorrilla  Ganadora del 2do Concurso de Afiches para el IV Festival de Dibujo 2016. Su propuesta fue seleccionada por su diseño atractivo, su originalidad y su vínculo con el dibujo
                  IV Festival de Dibujo 2016Nuestras congratulaciones a Mariel Consuelo Zorrilla Ganadora del 2do Concurso de Afiches para el IV Festival de Dibujo 2016. Su propuesta fue seleccionada por su diseño atractivo, su originalidad y su vínculo con el dibujo
                  Fundacion de Arte Arawak
                  Drawing sea swallows
                  Drawing sea swallows
                  Animate Arts Company
                  A digital creation with a top tip!
                  A digital creation with a top tip!
                  New College Lanarkshire
                  side two rotating canvas blue pen
                  side two rotating canvas blue pen
                  All Hallows School
                  one of the hundreds painting on the streets
                  one of the hundreds painting on the streets
                  Pintar Rapido
                  Rumpus is a non-profit organisation that works in the Illawarra to use Play as a tool for unlocking skills and building a resourceful, connected community
                  Rumpus is a non-profit organisation that works in the Illawarra to use Play as a tool for unlocking skills and building a resourceful, connected community
                  Rumpus Skillshare
                  Event Flyer
                  Event Flyer
                  Drawn to Seeing
                  A piece of Nature
                  A piece of Nature
                  Dr. Anamica Bhattacharya
                  drawings from Freefall Youth Group showing at TAAG Big Draw Till Nov 3rd
                  drawings from Freefall Youth Group showing at TAAG Big Draw Till Nov 3rd
                  Teignmouth arts action group
                  Children with their beautiful blue morpho butterflies
                  Children with their beautiful blue morpho butterflies
                  WWF-UK Living Planet Centre
                  Gallery View The
                  Big Draw

                  @ The Big Draw

                  Tweets by @The_Big_Draw
                  • About us
                  • Terms and Conditions
                  • Organise an event
                  • Press
                  • Privacy policy
                  • Contact
                  The Guild of St George
                  Urban Space Management
                   
                  East London Chamber
                  Alan Davidson Foundation
                  Foster and Partners
                   

                   

                   
                  Lottery funded
                   
                  Trinity Bouy Wharf Trust
                   
                  Trinity Bouy Wharf
                   
                  Here for Culture