Drawing as a democratic space within higher education, fine and applied arts: Categorization, process, outcome

Abstract

Abstract This article tracks the presence, influence of and development of drawing as a creative practice in Higher Education, Art and Design at Central Saint Martins (CSM) University of the Arts London (UAL) since 1896. Connecting to both a historical and a contemporary discourse on the practice of drawing within this institution, the article explores the educational role that drawing has played in the fine and applied arts (in particular, graphic communication design) and its present state of evolution as an embodied practice within an expanded field that is intrinsically and fundamentally linked to the creative process and final creative outcome. Also cited are notable academics, creative practitioners and critical theorists who have made it their goal to open up the practice of drawing as a democratic space for all to participate in, and one can observe this territory through three distinctive, although interlinked, lenses: categorization, process and outcome.