This Saturday, Vancouver will be covered in art by its own residents.
The fifth annual Vancouver Draw Down is a city-wide event celebrating drawing in everyday life organized by the Vancouver Park Board. The event seeks to challenge those who say they cannot draw.
“Saying you can’t draw is like saying you can’t walk,” said artist Shirley Wiebe.
“We’re dedicated to getting people over that kind of performance anxiety,” said arts programmer Marie Lopes. “We want people to reconnect with the power and pleasure of making marks and recognize that we draw all the time. Drawing isn’t just something precious that is done in secret. It’s also about taking risks.”
The event began online June 7, asking residents to submit drawings every day following a specific daily challenge, such as drawing a route taken through the city and making an image out of food.
The event will culminate June 14 with professional artists leading free workshops at 45 different locations across multiple Vancouver neighbourhoods from community centres to parks to a graveyard.
Most workshops will reflect the neighbourhood or will make use of their unique location. They include turning a SeaBus into an art studio, tracking dance steps by the Science World seawall, tracing branches onto the Yaletown–Roundhouse Station, and creating bunting that will decorate the Mount Pleasant Farmers Market.
The UBC Learning Exchange is located in Chinatown and its workshop encourages participants to draw their futures.
“We get lots of locals and residents from neighbouring communities, young and old,” said community animator Suzie O’Shea. “Art is such a powerful tool for connecting people from all walks of life, those new to the area and those who have been in the Downtown Eastside for years.”
The Cloudscape Comics Society is hosting a workshop at both Douglas Park and Kensington Community Centre. Many families with young participants attended their workshop last year.
Cloudscape president Jeffrey Ellis believes engaging young people with art is as important as studying math or English.
“It develops imagination and creativity and we hope to get people away from their screens a little bit, too.”
Ellis thinks comics are a less intimidating way to get people into drawing and a good example of a medium that doesn’t rely solely on artistic ability, but also words and storytelling.
Wiebe is leading a workshop at Mountain View Cemetery. Her session also combines drawing with text, using printed words to create an image.
“People are writing and printing less and less because we text and use the computer.”
She participated last year and noticed that most of the participants did not draw regularly.
“They all just enjoyed sitting down and making something and weren’t intimidated by their talent levels,” said Wiebe. “Everyone inspires each other and having so many people drawing makes it less intimidating.”
The official launch will take place at the Central Library at 11 a.m.
An event passport with workshop locations and times can be found online at vancouverdrawdown.com. Participants are encouraged to try many different workshops throughout the day.
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