"Discovery," Marcel Proust observed, "consists not in seeking new landscapes but in seeing with new eyes." And it is no doubt precisely Proust's sentiment which drove a group of students in London, after being inspired by a course which they had taken called "Drawing The City," to form the Drawing London Group. Although London is undeniably well suited for such a project, reading through this article inevitably provokes one to realize that such a project could just as well be taken up in most any city!
Furthermore, it seems that - if properly modified - such a course could easily be imagined as being of particular interest to Divinity Schools which are searching for new and novel ways to engage the arts theologically. Might not a "Drawing the Church" or "Drawing the Body of Christ" course(s) be a wonderful opportunity for collaboration between a Divinity School and other departments (notably the visual arts) on campus? And might it not also be that under the auspices of such a project that the arts could be deployed to great effect not only as witness but as methods of actually doing theology? Reflect on these questions - and ask your own - while perusing the aforementioned article on the Drawing London Group.
Pumped up after taking a 2003 course called “Drawing the City” at the Prince’s Drawing School in London, a few members of the class decided to branch out on their own. Dubbing themselves the Drawing London Group, they started exploring all facets of London life — alleyways, cathedrals, cafes, pubs, markets — depicting the capital through sketches and watercolors.
The group’s latest collection, “Alleyways & Backwaters of London,” will be on display in the library foyer at London’s Barbican Center (Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS; 44-207-638-4141; www.barbican.org.uk; Barbican tube stop) through Feb. 24.
“The alleyways and waterways are like the song lines of London, telling the story of the city as you walk along them,” said Bill Aldridge, one of Drawing London’s founding members.
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