River To River Festival: The Big Draw

Though many people classify expensive vacations to exotic or dangerous locations as adventures, to me, a great adventure is getting lost. One Saturday, in an attempt to find Teardrop Park, I realize how easy it was to wander upon art in this amazing city. The park itself is artistic, with its many trees, rocks, and stone benches. Even more artistic was the third annual celebration of drawing, presented by the River to River Festival, called The Big Draw 2008. Though not very symbolic, the festival was definitely a conspicuous representation of love and excitement through art.

The Big Draw took place in Battery Park, situated right next to River Terrace, for most of the day. Surrounding it were many skyscrapers and boats, simply reminding everyone that they are in a beautiful city. Everywhere, there were children running around, desperately trying to get themselves a piece a chalk to draw on the floor with. Not only that, they have to work hard getting themselves a spot too. Throughout the day, flowers, pirate ships, and rainbows came to life through the imaginative minds of the children. Their excitement could be seen by the chalk shavings and how almost every foot of the floor was covered.

One of the main events of the day was hopscotch. This was different from the traditional hopscotch that people may think of, created by boxes and numbers. Hopscotch in The Big Draw was created by perfect circles surrounding each other, like ripples in water. Even more artistic was that the circles were drawn by dancers with their feet. Linda Blacken, one of the dancers who have volunteered in the NY Care for 4.5 years, says she “loves” her “job and works for the kids in Harlem.” As she moved slowly, but gracefully, she dragged the two boxes attached to her and created two circles at a time. Surprisingly, not only were there three foot children, but grown adults joined in too. They surrounded the outermost circle, and held hands at first to keep themselves from running into each other. After each round of attempting to jump to the center without stepping on the lines, everyone was given a piece of chalk to add a drawing to the circle. Some were “safe” spots, like flowers, while others were “danger” spots, like sharks. The hopscotch events were lead by Michael L, who describes it as “tons of fun.” Though the day was humid and everyone was sweating, Michael never hesitated to begin each event and to crack jokes to make people laugh.

It was nice to see that families were there together, each given a tiny sketchbook to draw whatever they felt like drawing. Children had crayons and chalk to scribble all over their books, as well as the floors. They spent time playing board games like Battleship and Sorry, laughing shamelessly as they sat on the floors. Dancers and volunteers walked around to greet people and talk to them. It was interesting to me how the dancers could move so slowly, pausing for like thirty seconds at a time. When we talked, I learned that they had rehearsed many times for other performances as well. It seems as if everyone loved the event, even though the sky was threatening rain. This was a new and inspirational event, though it was disappointing that there were no artist-led events as described.

ready to jump??

The Big Draw 08