THE DRAWING CENTER INC
Programs
Program 1 [2018]
The Drawing Center, a museum in Manhattan's SoHo district, explores the medium of drawing as primary, dynamic, and relevant to contemporary culture, the future of art, and creative thought. It's activites-which are both multi-disciplinary and broadly historical-include exhibitions; site-specific installations; Open Sessions, a curated artist program encouraging community and collaboration; the "Drawing Papers" publication series; public programs; and educational initiatives for school and community groups. It was founded in 1977 by curator Martha Beck (1938-2014). The impact on the medium that The Drawing Center has had over the past 40 years is clear. Drawing has taken its place as a central and respected art form, with institutions and galleries across the globe hosting major exhibitions that confirm its artistic importance and commercial viability. This shift in the field has allowed The Drawing Center to rethink its mission, moving away from a more defensive stance about drawing-that it is legitimate, important, and valuable-to a more expansive and positive exploration of how drawing operates in contemporary culture. This new institutional approach has been popular with general audiences and the field in general, and The Drawing Center is seeing increased annual attendance figures as well as the development of a broader base of supporters. Every year, The Drawing Center serves 20,000+ individuals both on-site and through off-site drawing workshops. As a museum that does not maintain a collection, the main focus of The Drawing Centers programmatic activity is temporary exhibitions and longer-term site-specific installations. The museum mounts 1012 exhibitions or installations annually across its three gallery spaces Main Gallery; Drawing Room; the Lab and two installation sites-the Lab Corridor and Stairwell. Often, these exhibitions travel onto different national and international venues, with 14 exhibitions traveling to more than 25 museums since 2007 alone. The Drawing Center presents around 40 public programs every year. These include gallery talks and walkthroughs; lectures; readings; performances; and film screenings that provide new insights into the work on view in exhibitions or to the medium of drawing more generally. For additional entry points, The Drawing Center produces a catalogue or publication around each of its exhibitions; there are noe 125+ books in the "Drawing Papers" series, which have impacted millions online and through wide distribution to bookstores. Launched in January 2014, Open Sessions gathers 30-40 contemporary artists for a two-year collaborative program to develop radical and unique approaches to drawing. Open Sessions invites selected artists to consider drawing's current and potential roles in their artistic practice and empowers them to find new approaches for contextualizing and presenting their work through exhibitions, public programs, professional mentorship, and peer review. The Drawing Center serves 5,000+ individuals annually through its Michael Iovenko School Programs and programming in collaboration with diverse community-based organizations. Serving students and community members from across the five boroughs of NYC, single-session Draw and Reflect Art Workshops consist of a guided tour and an art-making workshop in the galleries. Drawing Connections is a partnership with four local schools to provide an in-depth arts-in-education experience for 100 students; this multi-part program is comprised of a single gallery visit and six in-school sessions. The Drawing Center also offers drawing workshops for artists of all ages on Saturday mornings; off-site public drawing workshops in collaboration with the non-profit organization Street Lab; guided tours for adult and university groups; a robust internship program.GeographiesNot indicatedDatesJul 1, 2017 – Jun 30, 2018Source990No causes providedNo populations provided–$1.3MGeneral Mission-Related Initiatives
See Schedule O for complete program service activity.GeographiesNot indicatedDatesJul 1, 2022 – Jun 30, 2023Source990No causes providedNo populations provided–$2.2M
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