Students and staff tapped into their artistic side for an interactive event designed to promote the influence of visual literacy.
Hosted by the Faculty of Education, The Big Draw was part of an International Drawing Festival and featured the theme ‘Play’. Participants were encouraged to explore their creative flair through a series of drawing stations and activities, creating a labyrinth of colour and creativity along a main corridor in the EDEN building.
Staff and student from across the University were invited to drop by the corridor and explore the materials and activities available as part of the collaborative installation.
Drawing activities included ‘Figure It Out’, which included playing with figures; You Can’t Inflate the Importance of Drawing, which involved balloon drawings; Dot to Dot or Dash between the Dots, which included a Random Thesaurus Drawing and Spinning a Yarn – a Column wool wrap and drawing through space.
Dr Claire Penketh who organised the event, said: “The event involved students from across the faculty and was very well received, with Early Years, Year 4 Primary, Year 2 Special Educational Needs, Year 2 Disability Studies in Education, and members of the Disability Studies Society taking part.
“I believe that visual literacy can and should inform our understanding of the world as part of a multimodal approach. As a member of the National Society for Education in Art and Design, I’m keen to champion art across the curriculum and to host an event that will bring drawing to future educators, some of whom may have had limited access to the arts in their own school experience.
“Our University supports the arts in our own curriculum offer and is committed to enabling students to experience a wide range of cultural experiences. We are currently engaged in a partnership with North West arts organisation Curious Minds, as part of our commitment to cultural education. Drawing is an amazing tool and we were keen to promote accessible forms of engagement as part of our Big Draw.”