THINKING THROUGH DRAWING: PRACTICE INTO KNOWLEDGE

THINKING THROUGH DRAWING: PRACTICE INTO KNOWLEDGE 119

Can drawing be a matter of life and death? Ste-
phen Farthing gave us a powerful example of how
drawings can kill, citing Churchill’s drawing of the
map of modern Iraq in Cairo in 1921. It’s startling,
but significant, to think about drawing in that way.
Dr. Shah and Jen Wright have given us a vision of
how drawings might help save lives within a medi-
cal context. Neil Shah showed us how surgery itself
can be understood as a form of reductive drawing. I
believe that drawings—and the teaching of drawing
(and art-making in general) can help save lives, in a
manner much less tangible, but perhaps just as vital.
I have been a teaching artist in New York City
schools for 12 years, and have worked in a broad
range of schools, from the outer limits of the Bronx
to Harlem and Chinatown. I have taught in alterna-
tive transfer high schools, for students failed out
of traditional programs, and in one of the highest
performing public elementary schools in the city.
These experiences have taught me how drawing in
particular, and art-making in general, may empower
children and adolescents to explore, invent, solve
problems and understand concepts across disci-
plines. The children themselves report that they learn
to manage their emotions and visualize their dreams
through art-making. This is more difficult to mea-
sure, but not less important. One student, held back
for two years not for any intellectual deficits, but
simply because she was unable to control her anger,
says, “When you are mad, it helps you get another
mood... you do art, and you get happy again.”
For the past two-and-a-half years, I have been
part of a team of artists working on an art model

development and dissemination project (AEMDD),

a collaborative effort initiated by the Studio in a

School organization, in collaboration with Metis

Associates and the New York City Department of

Education (NYCDOE) and funded by the Federal

Office of Innovation and Improvement in Educa-

tion. This project, Framing Student Success is aimed

at demonstrating measurable improvement in

struggling students’ math and literacy skills through

targeted and rich art instruction. It is a longitudi-

nal study, following the same students from third

through fifth grade (8-10 years old.) Our mandate is

to develop and disseminate a “groundbreaking and

comprehensive model” of how art and core subject

area instruction can function as equal partners.

We have worked very hard to design and pro-

vide rich, deep art instruction that naturally and

intrinsically bridges the disciplines, rather than

Drawing: A Matter of Life and Death?

Andrea Kantrowitz
Teachers College, Columbia University

Figure 1.