Drawing Center facts for kids
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The Drawing Center at 40 Wooster Street
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| Established | 1977 |
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| Location | 35 Wooster Street, New York, NY 10013 |
| Type | Art, Special Interest |
The Drawing Center is a special museum in New York City. It's a place where you can see amazing drawings. They show all kinds of drawings, from very old ones to brand new ones made by artists today. It's a nonprofit place, which means it's not just about making money.
How the Museum Started
The Drawing Center was created in 1977 by a woman named Martha Beck. She used to work at the Museum of Modern Art and loved drawings. Her idea was to show everyone how important and varied drawing is as an art form.
The museum first opened in a warehouse in a part of New York City called SoHo. It was a small space at 137 Greene Street. Later, in the late 1980s, it moved to its current home at 35 Wooster Street. This building is very old and has a cool cast-iron front. In its first year, about 125,000 people visited the museum!
In 2012, the museum got a big makeover. It was designed by Claire Weisz. The renovation cost $10 million and made the museum much bigger. Now, it has two and a half floors, giving it 50 percent more space to show art.
What You Can Do There
Every year, The Drawing Center has special "Selections" exhibitions. These shows feature art from new and upcoming artists. They also have exhibitions of drawings from history and modern times.
Since 2012, the museum has been working to show more drawings from Latin American artists. There's also a special area called The Drawing Room. It's across the street from the main gallery. Here, you can see exciting art installations and shows by new artists.
The Drawing Center offers many fun programs for both kids and adults. These include:
- Watching films
- Listening to authors read
- Talks by artists
- Special discussions
- Performances
- The Big Draw: This is a day-long event where artists lead drawing activities for people of all ages. It's a great chance to get creative!
Past Exhibitions
The Drawing Center has hosted many interesting shows over the years. Here are a few examples:
- Leon Golub: Live & Die Like a Lion?
- Sun Xun: Shock of Time
- Rirkrit Tiravanija: Demonstration Drawings
- Drawing on Film
- Eva Hesse Drawing
- Iannis Xenakis: Composer, Architect, Visionary
- Unica Zürn: Dark Spring
- Guillermo Kuitca, Diarios
- Sean Scully, Change and Horizontals
- Drawing Time, Reading Time (a group show)
- Thread Lines (a group show featuring artists like Louise Bourgeois and Lenore Tawney)
- Small (a group show)
- Lebbeus Woods, Architect
- Len Lye, Motion Sketch
- Andrea Bowers and Suzanne Lacy: Drawing Lessons
How the Museum is Run
In 2018, Laura Hoptman became the Executive Director of The Drawing Center. She used to be a curator at The Museum of Modern Art.
For a while, in 2005, there was a plan for The Drawing Center to move to the World Trade Center site. That plan didn't happen. Then, the museum thought about moving to the South Street Seaport and building a new $60 million museum there. But by 2010, they decided it was best to stay at their Wooster Street home and make it bigger.
In 2005, The Drawing Center received a $20 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation. This money was given to many arts and social service groups in New York City, thanks to a donation from former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. For the 2012 renovation, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation also gave a large grant of $3 million.
In 2011, about 35,000 people visited the museum each year. By 2018, that number grew to 55,000 visitors annually.
