Learning More About Drawing
Drawing Australia, is a far-reaching program focused on visual thinking and drawing. The research program that underpins the project builds on several existing features of the Macquarie University context including:

• Previous research in art, education, and psychology
• Undergraduate teaching in the visual arts
• Macquarie University Museums And Collections

"Seeing affects what we think, but we still don't know much about this process, even though it occupies a large part of our brain. Mostly we take it for granted." Spalding, J. (2001) Power Drawing , Campaign for Drawing: London. p. 1

Inspired by the work of   colleagues in the UK Power Drawing project, the Drawing Australia Research Program (DARP) aims to investigate the nature, functions and values of drawing. Eileen Adams who leads the Power Drawing project observed:

"Drawing provides the means for learning to see. In this visual world, drawing provides a vivid shorthand. It is an extraordinarily versatile tool in many subject disciplines, ranging from tiny sketches containing big ideas to whole sets of drawings that give all the information necessary for building a house or an aircraft". Adams, E. (2001) Power Drawing , Campaign for Drawing: London. p. 2.

Following from Drawing Australia's aim of promoting drawing as a way of seeing and making meaning, one aspect of the research venture is concerned with ways in which drawing is learned and how formal and informal educational settings can enhance visual learning and literacy.

In formal education settings 'literacy' is generally assumed to mean verbal and written literacy. In recent decades, recognition of our increasingly visual culture has not generally been matched by the valuing of visual communication as a means of learning.

In 2000, the prominent verbal literacy researcher Shirley Brice-Heath stated:

"The future curriculum needs to integrate visual, verbal and other representational modes as schools move closer in goals and process to non-school learning communities and organisations."
Brice Heath, S. (2000) Seeing our way into learning. Cambridge Journal of Education 30, 1, p.121.

Effective learning in our increasingly visual environments requires educators and others to reconsider the importance of visual learning and literacy and to re-evaluate learning methods and teaching strategies. In a world dominated by visual concepts and communication, the agenda for basic skills in the 21st century requires attention to visual intelligence.

"A drawing is a thought"
Errol Davis sculptor

"Seeing affects what we think, but we still don't know much about this process, even though it occupies a large part of our brain. Mostly we take it for granted."
Julian Spalding artist

Research Partner - The Campaign for Drawing UK
In 2002 Macquarie University was invited to become a partner in the research program of The Campaign for Drawing in the United Kingdom. This action research program aims to help educators in schools, museums, galleries and other settings to develop drawing as a tool for learning. Further details of the UK Campaign for Drawing may be found at http://www.drawingpower.org.uk

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