Drawing Out: a trans-disciplinary drawing network

The premise that drives the 'Drawing Out Network' was seeded during the first UAL/RMIT University drawing conference held in Melbourne during March 2010. This conference was initiated as a means of exploring cross-disciplinary approaches to drawing and it resulted in the organisers identifying a need for a network that could conduct a systematic analysis of drawing that focused on establishing a better understanding of drawing's relationship with writing and notation. This constitutes knowledge that we expect to help us establish drawing's position as an active component of general literacy.

With drawing established in the minds of the organisers as the tangible bridge between textual and non textual communication this Network formed and resolved to firstly formalise and develop its membership, and then to continue the exchange for at least two years with a view towards finally publishing its findings. During this two year period it is expected that as the dialogue between specialist members develops, membership will be expanded to include representatives of groups who are expected to eventually become intellectual beneficiaries of the Network's research. These will include teachers, educational policy makers and representatives of examination boards.

To this end the Network is now constituted around two hubs, one in London at UAL the other in Melbourne at RMIT. Each hub is organised by a cross-disciplinary committee and brings a different nationally driven pre-existing sub-network to interact with this international Network. Beyond the core focus that both institutions have on art and design, RMIT brings Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Practices, Architecture, Engineering Designs; Creative Writing; Mathematics and Pharmacology to the table. In the UK the debate is broadened and strengthened by UAL's ability to reach out to scholars in the fields of Linguistics, Musicology, Dance and Geography.

Together, UAL and RMIT have put the Network in place and it features an international cross-generational set of researchers who have a practical and theoretical engagement with drawing and writing. They share an ambition to develop new approaches to integrating the teaching of drawing within the curriculum as a means of enhancing general literacy, problem solving and discovery by connecting the teaching of drawing writing and mathematics, science and humanities subjects.

The Network organising committees for each institution will be as follows:

UAL: ; Professor Stephen Farthing (artist), Network Chair and Rootstein Hopkins Research Chair of Drawing; Professor George Blacklock (artist), Dean of Wimbledon School of Art, Charlotte Hodes (Artist and Ceramicist), Reader and Research Fellow in Drawing at the London College of Fashion.

RMIT: Colin Fudge (Town Planner), Pro Vice Chancellor and Vice President RMIT; Dr Elizabeth Greirson, Professor of Art and Philosophy head of the School of Art and design, RMIT.

The DON will structure its exchanges around two conferences: the first in the UK hosted by UAL in March 2012 and the second at RMIT in Melbourne in March 2013. From October 2011 the PI will work with the administrator to develop a website that will publish the content of meetings and provide an online forum in which users can interact and engage with the issues raised. The website will also serve as an archive and learning resource for the project as a whole.

When in 2002 Eric Anderson concluded his paper Enhancing Visual Literacy Through Cognitive Activities, at the ASEE/SEF/TUB Colloquium of the American Society for Engineering Education by arguing that drawing was not only "a cognitive activity vital to visualisation and understanding in design education" but one that could also be used to better prepare students "to use the computer as a tool to develop ideas more effectively" he began to define the broad range of lives this network aims benefit.

In order to maximise influence, the Network's primary target audience will be those educational policy makers already engaged in curriculum development that relates specifically to the teaching of literacy, communication skills and the enhancement of creativity.

Following the influence on those policy makers, it is anticipated that the publishing activities of the Network and the efforts of individual members will rapidly reach out to larger audiences including: publishers, journalists, teachers and university lecturers each of whom have the potential to disseminate the findings and ultimately impact on the way drawing is taught and perceived within the curriculum at primary, secondary and tertiary levels.

Other beneficiaries will be the students who are able to participate in learning which forms the curricular connection between writing, drawing and mathematical/musical notation.

Education
We anticipate that the long term impact of this research Network's findings will emerge within educational policy and will become embedded in debates surrounding literacy, communication skills and enhancing creativity.

Following that, the anticipated substantive benefit will be the effect that the Network's published findings will have on the organisation of the teaching and learning of drawing. For early learners, this will be through the refreshed relationship it is expected to present between reading, writing and drawing. And at a secondary and tertiary level through the relationship forged between drawing and the majority of subjects on the curriculum; not simply the favoured relationship it currently enjoys with art and design. Prior to publication the findings will be tested by using them as a check list and set of guiding principles against which the University of the Arts Drawing award and Certificate course is updated.

Cross-disciplinarily
The project will interest organisers of cross-disciplinary research as within a cross curricula environment it will first focus on the less explored but shared information storage, retrieval and handling tool - drawing. It will also place drawing in partnership with text-based aspects of literacy: reading, writing, numeracy and musical and mathematical notation. Working with shared information handling strategies, rather than shared subject matter this cross-disciplinary Network will highlight the importance of cross-curricular comparison when discussing creative thinking, discovery and communication strategies across disciplines.

Artist, Publishers and Museums
By taking the spotlight off artists and art historians as the designated apologists for drawing and creating a network where the task of defining drawing is shared with a mass of other users, we hope to help artists, curators and historians redefine their understanding of its role within pure drawing as opposed to applied creative thinking.