Ruskin’s Annual Big Draw, which is a celebration of art and drawing, will be held on Saturday, April 14 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Firehouse Cultural Center located at 101 1st Ave. NE in Ruskin.
The Big Draw is an international event. Locally, the Ruskin Big Draw was started in 2008 as a way to celebrate the vision of the town’s namesake, John Ruskin, a Victorian artist and writer.
The year’s theme is Living Lines. There are a variety of art experiences being offered at the Big Draw including painting, drawing, sculpture and photography. All activities offered that day are free to the public. There will be activities for both children and adults. All activities are led by teachers who are professional artists and art educators.
The Big Draw art activities from which you can choose to participate include creating mobiles with Dee Hood. Jim Reiman will be leading groups on creating photographs. Muralist, Mike Parker will lead a session on creating lines with bikes. You can learn about creating large abstract painting with Will Talenty. Tuli Carswell will lead big scale drawing. Susan Fredricks from USF will be teaching printing. In addition, there will be a drawing circle set up for still life painting.
Laurie Burhop with the Firehouse Cultural Center said, “The Firehouse Cultural Center is hosting the Big Draw because it is important to provide the South Shore community with cultural experiences.” Burhop added, “It is nice to have a free arts event, so people have the opportunity to be exposed to art.”
The artists and art educators who will be teaching at this year’s Big Draw event come with years of experience. The community will have the opportunity to create art with art instructors who teach at the area’s finest institutions including USF and the Ringling School of Art. In addition to all of the art experiences, the Firehouse Cultural Center’s new building, located next door, will be open for the public to see. The new building is already being used for visual art classes.
For information, visit www.firehouseculturalcenter.org or call 645-7651.
