Look back. Look forward. Look at each other: DrawTogether Strangers at the National Gallery
On America's 250th birthday, join the National Gallery of Art, ten partner museums, and yours truly for some drawing, looking, and loving.
Hiiii GUTsters!
It’s me, WendyMac. I’m baaaaack.
Huge thank you to the GUT crew for keeping the studio lights on while I was (am) working on a big book project. What would we do without the fabulous GUT team??
I loved seeing GUT members try drawing-from-description in the chat this week. If you haven’t tried your hand at Albrecht Dürer’s rhino technique (or heard the fascinating story behind it) you’re missing out: Listen and draw to our collaboration with Audio Flux here. (The Kraken I described/you drew is at the end of this email!)
This weekend, this mega-experiment of a nation is celebrating its 250th birthday. 1Every birthday is an opportunity to reflect on where we are, how we got here, and where we want to go. But this one is…challenging. Personally, it feels like one of those years where you wake up, look around, and wonder, “Wait, what happened??” But! After we stretch, have some coffee, do a little drawing, maybe we can see this 250th birthday for the gift that it is: an opportunity to reorient. To remember who we are, what we want, and start to grow in that direction, from the inside out.
A few weeks ago I got the chance to do exactly that.
It was a huge honor to be invited to return to the National Gallery of Art to help bring the ethos of “Drawing is Looking, and Looking is Loving” directly to the heart of the nation/belly of the beast. This week, I’m going to share some of that adventure with you, and invite you to join me once again on this nation(world!)-wide drawing project. Let’s pick up our pens, lift up our eyes, and draw in the direction we want go grow.
National Gallery of Art x DrawTogether
As some of you may remember, a couple years ago I brought DrawTogether Strangers to the National Gallery of Art.
For the uninitiated, DrawTogether Strangers is an ongoing public art project I started three years ago. I set up a table in a public space and ask two strangers to draw each other for one minute—without looking down. The NGA made this wonderful short film about it:
The result? Explosive laughter, unexpected drawings, and two people SEEING each other in a way people rarely do anymore. Participants leave the experience with a deepened sense of curiosity, attention, and connection. Maybe even a new friend.
A few months ago, the NGA asked me to bring DrawTogether Strangers back to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary. And when the NGA asks you do something, you say…
So here I am, at the National Gallery of Art. But this time, it wasn’t just the NGA—ten more museums from around the country also took part in the epic art project. All of them are part of a program called “Across the Nation” that brings important art from the NGA’s collection to communities around the country, so folks everywhere can enjoy the NGA’s archives.2 (Ahead of the NGA event, I also trained representatives from each of the museums to host DrawTogether Strangers.)
When the big day came, I gave a talk about DTS, my work drawing people’s stories around the nation, and what we learn when we look closely at the world and each other.
Then, the Across the Nation museum reps took charge of one of the 12 DTS tables set up in the museum’s atrium—and we were off! And while we hundreds, even thousands of grown-ups drew each other, the highlight was the kids (as it always is).
Oh, there was also one very enthusiastic, oversized bird.
At a time when many people around the country are feeling frustrated, exhausted, apprehensive, even scared of one another, taking 60 seconds to stop, slow down, look closely, and use drawing to really SEE one another—and belly laugh together—is a brave and vulnerable act. It’s the burst of connection and creativity we all need. Does it solve all our problems? Of course not. But it channels a kind curiosity I consider crucial if we want to move, collectively, toward more openness, surprise, and strength through difference. Connecting with a stranger like this—making eye contact and laughing together and making something—may seem tiny. I believe it is the foundation of everything.
Several “Across the Nation” museums around the US have since hosted DrawTogether Strangers events, including the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art and the New Britain Museum of American Art!
YOU CAN DO THIS TOO.
Which takes us to today’s ASSIGNMENT. As with the piece I wrote about David Hockney, I am taking down the paywall for this one. (A big thank you to subscribers and donors to our non-profit, DrawTogether Friends, that help make projects like DrawTogether Strangers possible.)
Assignment: DrawTogether Strangers
To celebrate this 250th birthday, let’s look back and look forward, at ourselves and each other. I am inviting everyone to participate in DrawTogether Strangers this week, and draw with some people you know—or even better, draw with people you don’t. YET.
If you have been wanting to set up a DrawTogether Strangers experience, this is your moment—this free downloadable toolkit will show you how. It’s easy, beyond fun, and will change people’s days (lives!), including yours. Ask the many people in the GUT who have hosted one themselves—it’s a BLAST. (If you have hosted one, leave a note in the comment! Or if you want to but are nervous, leave a note in comments so we can support you!)
Not ready to host a table? Then start practicing the exercise with someone you know. Take 60 seconds and draw each other without looking down, and find out what it feels like to SEE someone, and be SEEN.
I’d love to see how it goes. Share images in the chat, and if you post on Instagram, tag me @wendymac and #DrawTogetherStrangers so we can track the project and its impact.
And, if you are a member of a cultural institution that’s interested in hosting DrawTogether Strangers, reach out to studio@wendymacnaughton.com and we can set you up!
Alright friends. I’m delighted to be back in action with you all, breathing deep, looking around in awe, seeing all there is to see, putting pen to paper, and drawing a life with you, one line/scribble/shape/smile at a time.
250 Pencils up. ❤️✏️❤️
xoxo
w
GUT Gallery
LOVED seeing all the drawings you all made this week in response to our collaboration with audio flux, inspired by Durer’s rhino. Here are a few hightlights from the GUT Community chat, and at the end is THE ACTUAL KRAKEN IMAGE. Want to get weekly drawing assignments and participate in our international community art share in the future? Become a member!
And here is the Kraken I described in our Audio Flux collaboration episode:
Y’all nailed it. Durer would be proud.
And a certain superstar wedding - congrats Tay Tay! We love love.
When I was the storyteller in residence at the National Gallery of Art, I (we!) learned that the entire collection is owned by residents of the USA—so if you are ever interested in seeing artwork in the collection, you can visit the NGA and ask them to pull it from the archives for you to see yourself. Your own private viewing!
I did a draw together strangers table at an art walk last summer. Super fun and easy. I was in a low traffic area, so most people were together and knew each other, but it was still great. They all hesitate until I said “even if it’s awful, it will be over in one minute!!” Then they do it, laugh and say it was fun!
Ooh, I love that kraken illustration!! Drawn in the 1600's, fascinating!