For the past six months I’ve been hosting Dumbo Draw as a CreativeMornings FieldTrip. We meet up every month and walk around Dumbo and draw what we see. 

This has been a really fun, low stress way to practice urban sketching and observational drawing with others, but with the days getting short and colder, I decided to try something new last night — inside. 

I have a theory that people who come to Dumbo Draw not only want to practice drawing, but also want to make a connection. I have been learning some techniques and ice breaker exercises via the recent Creative Community Fellowship retreat I went on last month and the teaching fellowship I have with the Center for Urban Pedagogy. I also have been wanting to test out new ideas during the CreativeMorning Field Trip and just in general in my work as a teaching artist and as a creative activation designer. I put together a few ideas and came up with yesterday’s activity, or curriculum if you will: Drawing for Connection.

“Drawing is superior to activities such as reading or writing because it forces a person to process information in multiple ways: visually, kinesthetically, and semantically”  — Youki Terada for Edutopia describing the results from a recent study by Myra Fernandes, Jeffrey Wammes, and Melissa Meade at the University of Waterloo. 

Everyone seemed to really enjoy the activity and I literally remembered everyone’s name at the end and something about them, which is not normal for me! I could tell people got to know each other just by how comfortable they felt with each other afterward and how they remembered things about their partner. Plus, everyone made amazing work! We were able to practice both our drawing skills and practice being vulnerable, resulting in real human connection

We took two hours, but you could modify this if you have less or more time. Here’s my lesson plan if you would like to try it yourself! I highly suggest this as a team-building activity with co-workers or a fun thing to try with family members or friends at your next gathering. And of course, you can hire us to facilitate this or another creative activation for your next event. 

Drawing for Connection

Materials: Paper, pens or pencils or markers or watercolor or crayons. For Dumbo Draw, everyone brought their own sketchbook and writing material, which was fun because we got a lot of different types of drawings!

Introduction (10 min)

Have everyone share their name and the last thing they drew (or created). This can be anything. 

Activity (1 hr 30 min)

Explain that tonight you will be drawing while interviewing your partner (A and B). You’ll give a series of questions. Partner A will ask partner B the first question, and partner A will draw while partner B answers. Then partner B will ask partner A the same question and partner B will draw while partner A answers. You’ll set a timer for 10 minutes per question, per partner. At the end, you’ll gather back to share your drawings and what you found out about your partner. 

Let everyone know what the questions will be. Here are the questions and suggestions I did:

1. What is the history of your name? Does it have a meaning? (They can answer about their first, middle, last name, nickname, a parent’s name, etc). I suggest having the questioner draw the face of the interviewee for this first question.

2. Describe your perfect day.

3. What is your favorite tradition (or memory)? Why?

4. (Let partners choose their own question)

Set the timer for 10 minutes. Remind everyone that they should start with partner A asking partner B question #1. Once the timer goes off, have them switch to partner B asking partner A question #1. 

Repeat for all four questions. If you have more time, you can add more questions. 

Reflection (15 min)

Once you’ve gone through all rounds of questions, have everyone gather to one large table. If you have a big group, break up into smaller groups, just maker sure you have a facilitator for each group. 

Ask your group the following:

-How did it feel to do this activity?

-What was hard about drawing will asking questions?

-What was easy?

Ask your group the following for each question: 

-Would anyone like to share what they learned about their partner for question 1 (2, 3, 4, etc)?
-Would anyone like to share their drawing for question 1 2, 3, 4, etc)?

To wrap up, have everyone pick their favorite drawing and put it in the center of the table so you all can take a photo of the drawings. 

And that’s it! Have you ever done anything like this? Share in the comments below if so!!

-Stephanie