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By Melody Jameson
melody@observernews.net
Ruskin – John Ruskin, the long-departed namesake of this community, may well be pleased indeed.
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| Bruce Marsh Photo
For the next six weeks, Ruskin’s first Big Draw project will be headquartered in these three storefronts of the shopping plaza in the central business district. The donated space provides 7,000 square feet in which multiple drawing classes and workshops can be conducted by numerous visiting artists as part of the community’s centennial observance. |
For now, the man who once was Great Britain’s leading social critic as well as a writer and artist who gave impetus to that nation’s celebrated annual Big Draw, can be credited not only with a historic community but also with a two-month event practicing what he preached.
As the community bearing his name commemorates its centennial, it also is taking to heart a John Ruskin principle: that through drawing we learn to see the world around us.
And it’s that philosophy that is at the heart of each and every class, workshop and event that now comprises the 2008 Big Draw, Ruskin, Florida, style, said Bruce Marsh and Dolores Coe. Marsh and Coe, a husband and wife team whose careers have been rooted in teaching graphic and fine arts on the university level, are co-chairpersons of this community’s first Big Draw that has blossomed into a many-faceted program offering something for every age group, every interest during many day and evening hours until formal conclusion on October 11.
Organizational sessions now are underway aimed at leading to production of one of the centerpieces of this first Big Draw, Marsh noted this week. Michael Parker, now an artist-in-residence in Ruskin for the course of the event, is beginning to form a core group to produce a community mural on the south side of the former Clark Furniture Store structure in the heart of Ruskin. Under Parker’s guidance, the teenage artists group will be designing, drawing and painting a mural in the space measuring about 100 feet in length by about 20 feet high, Marsh said. Parker recently led another such community project in the Sulfur Springs section of Tampa. The group must be kept at a manageable size, Marsh added, and any young person interested in taking part should contact Parker by telephone without delay at 846-2000. Artistic expertise is not required.
As that touchstone project is underway, a large number of classes geared to different age groups with varying types of art interests have been scheduled in a number of venues in and around the area. Those interested in joining the various workshops can register at the Ruskin Library, beginning September 2, Coe said. Many of the classes will be conducted in the 7,000-square-foot Big Draw Studio, located in the Ruskin Shopping Plaza, she added. The storefront space was donated for the duration of the project.
During the first week of the four-week Big Draw 2008, a beginning drawing class is scheduled for 10 AM to noon on Mondays, September 15 through October 6. Free of charge, the series is an introduction to “the basics of seeing and drawing,” Marsh said. As an exploration of ideas, processes and techniques, it is suitable for all age groups.
Another short course for all ages in the studio is devoted to making a sketchbook or journal. Introducing basic construction techniques in book making, the class will be led by visiting artist Patrick Lindhardt from 6 to 9 PM on September 15.
A four-session mini class in beginning drawing, presented by the University of South Florida’s School of Art and Art History, will get underway at 6:30 PM Tuesday, September 16, and continue for four consecutive Tuesdays in the studio.
A landscape drawing class is on tap for 11 AM, Wednesday, September 17, at the SouthShore Regional Library while an open “Wednesday Night Draw” session is slated for that evening, beginning at 6:30 PM, in the Ruskin studio.
A class titled “Illusions – A Simple Intro to Perspective Drawing” taught by Marsh, is scheduled for 6 PM Thursday, September 18. It will provide the student an intuitive approach to drawing boxes and cylinders, castles or motorcycles, from imagination and observation, Marsh said.
On Friday, September 19, a class led by Suzanne Prach, focused on drawing and capturing a memory is set for 1 PM at the Ruskin Library. This session is limited to 12 adults.
Back in the Big Draw Studio on Saturday, September 20, Rebecca Sexton Larsen, a former photographer laureate for the City of Tampa, will lead a session from 9 to noon on making Sunprints – “drawing with light” or creating photographs without cameras.
That same afternoon, beginning at 1 PM, a class for teens aged 14 to 18 will be conducted by Jeffrey Cornwell, teen studio coordinator from the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota. Titled “Much in Little,” the class focuses on large drawings of small, seemingly insignificant things, challenging the artists to interpret in drawing their own unique reflections of items such as paperclips or gum wrappers or tiny wildflowers.
Two other classes for different age groups also are scheduled that Saturday in the Crawford Studio at the SouthShore Regional Library. Both are drawing classes, one for six to nine-year-olds at 11:30 AM and the second for youngsters 10 to 13 at 2 PM. Both will be conducted by art educator Brenda Eastep.
In addition, during the first week, two life drawing classes will be held at different venues. One will be held at Eckerd College in south St. Petersburg from 7 to 9:30 PM on Thursdays and another at The Arts Center in central St. Petersburg on Saturday mornings beginning at 9:30 AM. The charge for each is $5 and the classes are open to all without pre-registration.
During subsequent weeks, similar classes as well as more unusual related endeavors are slated. For example, drawing with cloth, in which students use fabric and scenes from nature to create three-dimensional images, is on tap for 9 AM on September 27 in the Ruskin studio. And, on the same date at the Camp Bayou Nature Preserve, from 1 to 4 PM, environmentalist Tim Rumage and artist Sheryl Haler will lead “Sight and Insight: the Naturalist’s Journal”.
A complete schedule of activities in the four-week Big Draw project are available online at www.southshoreartscouncil.org/bigdraw.
While several community-minded organizations have stepped up to participate in the Ruskin Big Draw, enabling several accomplishments such as free supplies for students in the various classes, more sponsors still are needed, Coe said.
Ruskin’s Big Draw 2008 is to conclude with the community’s Big Draw-In, beginning at 10 AM on October 11 at the mural site, with music, food, drawing activities and completion of the mural as the numerous partners in the project wrap it up, Marsh added. Perhaps even the spirit of an impressed John Ruskin will be present.
©2008 Melody Jameson
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