DRAWING IN THE GALLERIES

Ackland Public Program

Every month, Amanda Hughes, director of external affairs at the Ackland and working artist, meets with friends of the Museum who have an interest in practicing and strengthening their drawing skills.

"Drawing is all about learning to see again," says Hughes. "We all know what an apple looks like, and can draw a recognizable apple with relative ease, but the challenge in the gallery is not to draw any apple, but the apple in front of you."

Of course, in the galleries, no one is looking at apples, but rather at works of art. Working from all categories of art, participants have the opportunity to uncover the challenges the original artists faced and experience the pleasure of sharing in the creative process.

Each session opens with a brief conversation about a work of art in the Ackland, the artist who made the work, and the culture from which it emerged. "At some point in the program, there is always a little true instruction about how to manage negative space, or sight-size as one approach to 'getting it right,'" says Hughes, "but for the most part, we are all there to draw."

In addition to Hughes' program, Senior Museum Educator Beth Shaw McGuire leads a drawing program designed specifically for children. Drawing for Kids runs during the same hours as Drawing in the Galleries and focuses on teaching the basics of drawing to children.