The Big Draw Festival at Toronto’s History Museums has announced its program lineup for Saturday, September 28 and Sunday, September 29. The weekend celebration of drawing, mark-making and artistic inspiration features more than 50 free art projects and workshops over two days across 10 city-wide historic sites.
All activities, unless otherwise noted, will take place Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The public are encouraged to bring their own art supplies, however, each museum will have an “all-you-can-art” supply buffet with free materials to support all activities. With both outdoor and indoor activities offered, the event will keep participants drawing all weekend long, rain or shine. The weekend will also be an opportunity to explore the 10 Toronto History Museums’ interiors, courtyards and gardens to learn more about Toronto’s many stories.
Participants can put their personal touch on a collective work of art inspired by the neighbourhoods around the Toronto History Museums as part of many community mural art projects taking place during The Big Draw weekend.
Program highlights
• Colborne Lodge will present hourly botanical artistry workshops called Still Life in Gardens with artist Katherine S. Brown on Saturday and a cyanotype workshop on Sunday with artist Marjan Verstappen.
• Fort York National Historic Site will feature Shadow Story Boxes led by Red Pepper Spectacle Arts, which includes making a miniature shadow-puppet story box, and an introductory drawing class with Sam Horne in basic drawing techniques.
• Gibson House will present a “Take It Outside” art and storytelling zone produced by spoken word artist and storyteller Patrick de Belen. Activities include ‘zine and chapbook making with BAM!Toronto Youth Poetry Slam, a writing and sharing circle with poet Thunderclaw Robinson, graffiti mural painting with artist Rowell Solar and a selfie photo-booth with UG Productions.
• Mackenzie House will offer print-making using the 1845 printing press and a Creative Works studio workshop in still life drawing, while also giving visitors an opportunity to learn about the healing power of artistic expression.
• Market Gallery will feature mural making with StreetARToronto and AKIN Collective, and visitors on Sunday will be guided by one of the City’s artist ambassadors and use the City of Toronto’s Fine Art Collection as inspiration.
• Montgomery’s Inn will feature the creation of a stained-glass nature mural with Arts Etobicoke and artist Sladana Zivkovic, and a “historic” graffiti wall where participants can leave their mark.
• Scarborough Museum will offer the community an opportunity to learn the basics of cross-stitching and leather-stamping techniques, and will unveil “Equal Night: All is in Balance,” the second outdoor painting in a series by Indigenous artist Catherine Tammaro.
• Spadina Museum will present botanical art, taking inspiration from Spadina’s gardens, and blind-contour drawing in which participants learn to sketch the outline of a subject without looking at the paper.
• Todmorden Mills will feature woodland-style art workshops with Anishinaabe artist Mike Ormsby on Saturday and hand-drawn animation techniques with artist Cristal Buemi on Sunday.
• Zion Schoolhouse will feature VIBE artists helping visitors develop graffiti skills and chalk-art techniques.
Full program details are available at http://www.toronto.ca/TheBigDraw.
The Big Draw Festival in Toronto will align with the Culture Days weekend, a national celebration of arts and culture that supports free public events across Canada every year. The Festival will be supported by the British Council and Pomerleau. More information is available at http://www.toronto.ca/TheBigDraw.
The social media hashtags are #TheBigDraw, #BDF19 and #DrawnToLife. Other social media information: Twitter handle is @TOHistoricSites and @SpecialEventsTO; Instagram handle is @tohistoricsites; and Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/tohistoricsites.
Quotes:
“The Big Draw Festival is making art accessible to residents across the city. When we bring art into people’s communities, we build relationships and break down barriers while showcasing our talented local artists.”
– Deputy Mayor Michael Thompson (Councillor Ward 21 Scarborough Centre), Chair of the Economic and Community Development Committee
“Collections, exhibitions and displays in museums offer perfect inspiration for drawing. They celebrate a wonderful cultural heritage of ideas and artifacts and enable us to experience these personally and consider museums in deepening our well-being.”
– Cheryl Blackman, Director, Museums and Heritage Services
Toronto History Museums are a group of 10 museums owned and operated by the City of Toronto that bring Toronto’s history to life for residents and visitors. The museums include Colborne Lodge, Fort York National Historic Site, Gibson House Museum, Mackenzie House, Market Gallery, Montgomery’s Inn, Scarborough Museum, Spadina Museum, Todmorden Mills and Zion Schoolhouse. More information about the museums is available at https://www.toronto.ca/museums.
Toronto is Canada’s largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world’s most livable cities. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/cityoftoronto, on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/cityofto or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/cityofto.
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