ART DECO WEEKEND

from Drawing Attention March 2020

BRISBANE SKETCHFEST

FROM JANUARY 17-20, 2020, USK ORLANDO, USK MIAMI, AND USK TAMPA TEAMED UP TO HOST FREE SKETCH TOURS AND DEMONSTRATIONS AT ART DECO WEEKEND IN MIAMI BEACH. THE LONGEST RUNNING FREE CULTURAL FESTIVAL IN MIAMI BEACH, IT CELEBRATES INCREDIBLE ARCHITECTURE FROM THIS DESIGN PERIOD, A VISUAL FEAST FOR URBAN SKETCHING ATTENDEES. BY THOMAS THORSPECKEN

SKETCH BY FEDERICO GIRALDO

Noga Rose Grosman, of USk Orlando, organized participation in the event. As part of the street festival, the sketchers had their own tent on Ocean Drive where guests could learn about what we do and sign up for our activities. For providing such wonderful value to the festival, the Miami Design Preservation League sponsored hotel rooms for our instructors for the weekend.

On the first night, event organizers and volunteers met to prepare goodie bags of art supplies destined for each participant joining a sketch tour. Daniel Smith donated tubes of watercolor, there were incredibly bright swatch cards of watercolor from Viviva (India), pencils, small sketchbooks from Stillman & Birn and art supplies from Dick Blick.

At the tent, we had prepared 18x24 inch sketches that guests could paint to practice with their new supplies. The results were colorful and exciting. One little girl became fascinated with adding watercolor to a sketch. She was truly an artist in the making, so we gave her an art swag bag so she could continue creating at home.

Though rain created a soggy start to the weekend, our artists persevered. Soon enough, the weather turned glorious. Sketch tours went out twice per day, stopping at three unique architectural spots. At each location, one instructor offered tips and hints, while the other discussed the history of the site where sketchers would spend the next hour capturing the scene. Pam Schwartz, a history museum curator, prepared note cards containing historical information and pointing out the Art Deco features of each architectural gem.

We also hosted a variety of simultaneous demos, including one with Jim Richards from Siesta Key. Instructors stood in front of the USk tent with poster signs so that people could find the demo they signed up for, before heading out to different locations. This was a fun time for socializing and getting to see what others had created.

Besides buildings, sketchers were also invited to document Art Deco events. On the first evening, we were challenged to catch a live band with experienced swing dancers at the VIP beach side dance party. It was insanely windy out, but the flappers and their daddies danced late into the night.

A huge round of applause to all of the artist instructors and volunteers who donated their time and expertise to the event! The Art Deco Museum of Miami is hosting an exhibition of many of the original sketches created at the festival, on display now through April 18, 2020.

“O NE LITTLE GIRL BECAME FASCINATED WITH ADDING WATERCOLOR TO A SKETCH. SHE WAS TRULY AN ARTIST IN THE MAKING, SO WE GAVE HER AN ART SWAG BAG SO SHE COULD CONTINUE CREATING AT HOME.