Wolfsonian-FIU program provides opportunity to engage with art through sketching

By Joel Delgado ’12 MS ’17

If you’re like me, then you are no Picasso. But you don’t have to be in order to enjoy and take something away from “Sketching in the Galleries” at The Wolfsonian-FIU on Miami-Beach.

The public program gives participants a chance to draw items on display with some one-on-one guidance from a professional artist.

The practice is common in museums, said Maria Trujillo, education programs coordinator. The opportunity helps people interact in a new way with the Wolfsonian’s unique collection by forcing them to consider design aspects such as color, shape and lines. “They really start to look at the object for what it is, how it is designed,” she said. “It gives people a moment to pause and reflect on those objects.”

Deciding to try my hand at art for the first time in years, I went up to the “Echoes and Origins” exhibit – a display of Italian design and art created in the years between the World Wars.

Nearly two dozen participants grabbed sketch paper, a pencil and an eraser and roamed the exhibition in search of a subject. I chose a 1928 mahogany and walnut furniture set that featured two chairs and a table.

My first attempt, well, wasn’t exactly a successful one:

That’s was when Carlos E. Prado, the artist charged with helping us, sat down next to me to see my progress.

“It’s not that good,” I said sheepishly.

“That’s okay,” he replied with a smile. “Let’s see what we can do.”

Prado instructed me to draw the line that separated the wall from the floor to provide me with a sense of depth.

Then, he said to draw the “general form” of the objects. For the chairs and the table, that general form was a cylinder.

So I drew three equally sized cylinders for each and began working within them, attempting to draw out the chairs and table again, along with the other objects in my view.

Here was the second attempt:

Still room for growth, but a vast improvement over my first attempt. When Prado returned, he was as surprised at my progress as I was.

Like me, most of the other participants were not skilled artists either. For many, it was the first time in years that they had tried their hand at sketching.

Frank Lowry, an electronics technician who brought along his 11-year-old daughter, said that drawing brought back memories of high school art classes. “That was a long time ago,” he said, holding up a pretty decent rendering of a circa 1940 espresso maker. Lowry doesn’t drink the stuff, he added, but the vintage machine with its shiny chrome caught his attention because “it is a beautiful work of art.”

Loree Wasserman found the exercise an inspiration. “It’s making me want to take a drawing class,” she said. “And the fact that we get to pick something in the museum makes it all the more fun.” For her sketch she chose a 1935 writing desk.

On my way out, I spoke with Prado and I asked him why he did what he did – why he loves art and sketching.

“It helps me look at the world and interact with the world in a different way,” Prado told me.

When we engage the world and what we see through art and creativity, we are forced to stop and actually pay attention to the details of what is around us, gaining a better appreciation for the art we look at in the process – even chairs and tables from the 1930s.

Alexandra Pecharich contributed to this story.

For more information on Sketching in the Galleries and other events at the The Wolfsonian-FIU, visit their website or send an email to Maria Trujillo at maria@thewolf.fiu.edu.