I Draw New London
While at the Public Library of New London, I developed a program called "I Draw New London". The program was featured on the blog Library as Incubator and there are multiple write ups explaining the program in detail. I have provided the links to those write ups below.
In short, “I Draw New London” was a program where patrons of any age or artistic ability could check out art kits from the library, take them home and draw something that was important to them as a New Londoner. When they brought back the art work, we’d keep it and hang it up in the library. At the end of the 2 months we had an art opening for the community and all of the artists who participated.
I believe that programming has the most impact when done thematically over a span of time and is accessible to people of all ages. To further the “I Draw New London” program I also held a photography exhibit done by local college students showcasing modern takes on historic buildings; a five week free Drawing for Absolute Beginners class; art book displays and an art trivia game on our Facebook page.
To pull all of this off we required a number of partners. First, I needed buy in from the local artist community. I spoke to local artists and galleries from the downtown area to encourage them to be the first to check out the drawing kits. I knew that I needed to gather momentum quickly if this idea was to take off. The initial involvement by local artists was critical to getting broader community support. I also partnered with the local art teacher at Mitchell College to get her student’s art work hung in a public and prominent space. We held an art opening for her students that was attended by both the New London community and the Mitchell College community. The opening of this exhibit served as a kick off for the I Draw New London exhibit.
Lastly, I partnered with local and national media to get the word out. I reached out to the local Patch to do article on the project. I also reached out to galleries and asked them to plug the program in their e-newsletter. Finally, I reached out to Library as Incubator to run a series on the program. Although this blog did not garner us more participants in the program, it made our board of directors very happy and it was a talking point they used often.
I evaluated the program in a number of ways. First was straight participation. Approximately 60 people participated in I Draw New London Program. Then I compared that with the cost of putting the program together. We spent under $100 to pull all of the supplies together for 12 circulating art kits. Not counting the time for labor of planning and executing the program, the cost per person participating was $1.66.
Apart from straight numbers, however, the program was designed to bring people in New London together and build community. New London is a city of dichotomies, the very wealthy and the very poor, the conservative and the liberal. There was a nice wrap up of the program and the outcomes on Library as an Incubator (link below). We had people from every part of New London participate in this program. Two of the women who attended the opening reception hadn’t seen each other in years. Their reunion over a shared love of art and their city was exactly what this program was supposed to foster.
Links I Draw New London First Post: http://www.libraryasincubatorproject.org/?p=6718
I Draw New London Second Post: http://www.libraryasincubatorproject.org/?p=7069
I Draw New London Wrap Up: http://www.libraryasincubatorproject.org/?p=7723
In short, “I Draw New London” was a program where patrons of any age or artistic ability could check out art kits from the library, take them home and draw something that was important to them as a New Londoner. When they brought back the art work, we’d keep it and hang it up in the library. At the end of the 2 months we had an art opening for the community and all of the artists who participated.
I believe that programming has the most impact when done thematically over a span of time and is accessible to people of all ages. To further the “I Draw New London” program I also held a photography exhibit done by local college students showcasing modern takes on historic buildings; a five week free Drawing for Absolute Beginners class; art book displays and an art trivia game on our Facebook page.
To pull all of this off we required a number of partners. First, I needed buy in from the local artist community. I spoke to local artists and galleries from the downtown area to encourage them to be the first to check out the drawing kits. I knew that I needed to gather momentum quickly if this idea was to take off. The initial involvement by local artists was critical to getting broader community support. I also partnered with the local art teacher at Mitchell College to get her student’s art work hung in a public and prominent space. We held an art opening for her students that was attended by both the New London community and the Mitchell College community. The opening of this exhibit served as a kick off for the I Draw New London exhibit.
Lastly, I partnered with local and national media to get the word out. I reached out to the local Patch to do article on the project. I also reached out to galleries and asked them to plug the program in their e-newsletter. Finally, I reached out to Library as Incubator to run a series on the program. Although this blog did not garner us more participants in the program, it made our board of directors very happy and it was a talking point they used often.
I evaluated the program in a number of ways. First was straight participation. Approximately 60 people participated in I Draw New London Program. Then I compared that with the cost of putting the program together. We spent under $100 to pull all of the supplies together for 12 circulating art kits. Not counting the time for labor of planning and executing the program, the cost per person participating was $1.66.
Apart from straight numbers, however, the program was designed to bring people in New London together and build community. New London is a city of dichotomies, the very wealthy and the very poor, the conservative and the liberal. There was a nice wrap up of the program and the outcomes on Library as an Incubator (link below). We had people from every part of New London participate in this program. Two of the women who attended the opening reception hadn’t seen each other in years. Their reunion over a shared love of art and their city was exactly what this program was supposed to foster.
Links I Draw New London First Post: http://www.libraryasincubatorproject.org/?p=6718
I Draw New London Second Post: http://www.libraryasincubatorproject.org/?p=7069
I Draw New London Wrap Up: http://www.libraryasincubatorproject.org/?p=7723