Art. It is a word, but cannot always be portrayed by words.  It is a language, but not one of simple grammar and rules.  It is a form of expression and a stress reliever for everyday life that been in around since the last Ice Age.

These are some of the views expressed by many students and faculty in the South Lakes community, and some of the factors motivating seniors Carlie Sigle and Ainsley Eakins to implement the “Big Draw” project at South Lakes.

“We were just so stressed about the upcoming collegiate applications, and we both thought that we needed a way to de-stress,” Sigle said. “Art is the perfect way to do that, [but] the thing is that neither of us is that great at art.  We don’t take any art classes and we don’t have that much time to do it outside of school, so we thought why not do something in school that’s accessible to everyone.”

The Big Draw campaign was launched in the United Kingdom during 2000 as a tool to help encourage people to draw, and has since officially expanded into nineteen different countries.  The South Lakes Big Draw, which was located in the gallery during the last two weeks of October, consisted of several large sheets of paper on which anyone could draw anything.

Sigle and Eakins both asserted that art and the Big Draw promote individualism and self-expression in an interconnected world and hope for it to be continued in later school years.

“It fulfills you,” said Eakins, “It’s not about being someone else.  It’s about being you.”

Many students and teachers believe the big draw increased student exposure to art, and broke misconceptions about creativity and what it means to be an artist.

 “I think it’s good for everyone to have a creative experience,” art and photography teacher Marco Rando said.  “Creativity is in everything we do.  You could have someone who is a creative banker.”

Art teacher Matt Ravenstahl, who helped with the logistics and organization of the Big Draw, believes art inherently surrounds the human species.

“Expressing ourselves is something we all do every day,” Ravenstahl said.  “The way we wear our hair, the way we wear our clothes, the music we listen to.  All of that is self-expression.

Rando, who also assisted with the Big Draw project, agrees, stating art to be a language beyond words.

“Art is life and life is art in the way we move, in the way we think, in the way we share, in the way we believe,” Rando said.  “The Big Draw is an amazing project, drawing for the sake of drawing, creating for the sake of creating.  We need to do more of that.”