Out Today: Q&A on Drawn, Canada's Newest Arts Fest

When I went to art school oh so many centuries ago, I wondered.... why does everyone in the school, no matter what program they're in, have to take drawing in their first year?

Then, once I actually took the courses—which can be hard for those who are not natural draw-ers—I did come to understand the old chestnut that drawing helps you see clearly. It also is useful for recording visual ideas. So... there's my conceptual breakthrough.

While I wait for my Nobel Prize on that one to arrive, I was pleased to hear about Drawn, a new Vancouver arts festival that celebrates drawing. It kicks off this weekend and runs to August 8. My Q&A with one of the festival organizers, Robert Kardosh, appears in today's National Post. Here's an excerpt:

Q But even if we all draw as children, many of us stop as we get older. Why?

A I guess after a certain age we divide into artists and non-artists. I think as children we're all artists, in a sense, because we all need to begin visualizing and making sense of the world. And the way we can do that immediately is through drawing.

As we grow older, I guess we learn other ways of making sense of the world. Still, there are studies on the importance of drawing and the development of intelligence at an early age--it's a central part of the learning process, as important as learning the alphabet.

Image of BC Binning's Charred Forest 1943 from the Drawn Festival