Campus News
December 14, 2011
Student's speed draw is arts showcase
By Jessica Cook
How do you represent the arts at Emory—the wide range, spirit and potential for the future? Rosemary Magee, Leslie Taylor, Hal Jacobs and Sarah Vitorino of Creativity: Art & Innovation (CAI) and Center for Creativity & Arts (CCA) were brainstorming presentation ideas for a fundraising meeting with Emory's development and alumni relations teams. They wanted to communicate the growth of the arts, building greater awareness of its increasing role at Emory.
A typical PowerPoint couldn't show the energy of all the arts at Emory. The idea of a map came up, to reflect the range of art venues and collaborations. Rather than a static image, Jacobs suggested a speed drawing video—using time-lapse techniques, the arts could be represented in a map as it was drawn live.
He asked Julia Kjelgaard, chair of visual arts, if any students might help illustrate. Taylor Trew, an art history and visual arts major in Emory College, took up the challenge, as part of her independent study class in visual arts.
Jacobs and Trew first met to discuss the concept. The idea was to communicate how much art is here at Emory. However, a two-minute video cannot show everything about the arts; rather its purpose was to capture the spirit of the arts and spark questions.
The illustrations ended up being light-hearted and fun. Trew says the colorful cutout figures and cartoon-like buildings in the video aren't her usual representational style.
She worked on preliminary sketches for a couple of weeks. When filming finally began, she was nervous at first—but "quickly figured out my artistic direction and just got in the moment," she says.
The presentation got applause at the fundraising meeting. But as Taylor says, "the video is part of a larger picture."
The video helps dramatize the CAI and CCA's Arts Blueprint, a comprehensive overview of the arts at Emory, which includes a historical summary, event attendance numbers, and thoughts and recommendations for the future.
While work goes on in defining actionable steps from the blueprint, this short speed-drawing video helps Emory's energy and creativity come alive.
