Drawing Descriptions: An Intern’s Favorite Connecting Collections Moment
Aug 3, 2010
During the Connecting Collections Summer Teacher Institute I was led with my eyes shut through a museum gallery—by a teacher!
A Whitney educator facilitates a discussion about Lee Bontecou’s Untitled, 1961. Photograph by Liz Gillroy
The adventure began while participating in what was to become my favorite interactive gallery activity: “draw and describe.” A museum educator divided the group into pairs and assigned one person to be the “drawer” and the other to be the “describer.” The person drawing was led to an art object with her eyes closed, she sat down with her back to the work, and then sketched it based solely on the descriptions of her partner.
My sketch of a Lee Bontecou work. Photograph by Kate Balderston
When it was my turn to draw, my partner (a high school art teacher from New England) described an abstract work by Lee Bontecou. Trying to draw a picture based only on verbal descriptions was challenging. I became frustrated, not knowing the exact placement of certain compositional components. All I wanted to do was turn around and look at the work itself to see if my interpretation was accurate! When the time finally came to reveal our sketches, I was surprised to see that most people’s drawings looked similar to the Bontecou piece— a sign that our fellow describers had done their job well.
“Draw and describe” was my favorite activity during Connecting Collections. Not only did the conversation require good communication and teamwork, but it also forced me to slow down and hone in on the essential components of a work. In addition, the exercise reminded me that everyone has a unique viewpoint and that it is important to consider different perspectives when looking at art.
Connecting Collections is one of the Whitney’s Educator Programs.
By Kate Balderston, Education Intern