24 Hour Draw-a-Thon is a free, all ages arts extravaganza that happens annually in November beginning at 6:30 am on a Saturday morning and continuing until 6:30 am the next morning. Visitors can come and go at any time, draw on the walls and floor which are covered with paper and cardboard or participate in one of the many artist led workshops held throughout the day. Draw-a-Thon’s drawing-centered workshops are designed for participants of any skill level and include bookmaking, mailable art, recycled paper making, screen printing, interactive sculptures created from repurposed materials, a live figure drawing workshop, animation, drawing game shows, drawing karaoke, and the signature Draw-a-Tron 3000, a machine that can draw anything you want. Draw-a-Thon attracts about 1,500 participants each year. In addition to the annual event, Antenna has recently piloted an in-school program in which Draw-a-Thon artists transform a school’s cafeteria or gym into an arts funhouse and provide a field day for students full of art workshops.
In December 2020, in lieu of the in person event, Draw-A-Thon artists created and distributed hundreds of free drawing activity kits throughout New Orleans. In this way, we were able to celebrate the joy of drawing while social distancing.
Support this year’s Draw-A-Thon!
17th* Annual 24 HR Draw-A-Thon 2022!
Saturday December 17th, 2022- 7:30AM – until dawn the next day! 24HRS!
Save the date for the first installment of 24HR Draw-A-Thon in years! Draw-A-Thon will be hosted by NOCCA Foundation at Press Street Station, 600 Homer Plessy Way. We can’t wait to draw with you again!
A Fool’s Paradise :: Draw-A-Thon 2022 Schedule*
*As always, additions and changes to be announced!
7:30am Draw-A-Thon begins!
8:30am Draw-A-Tron 3000 is warmed up and ready to draw!
10am – 12pm Fool’s Paradise Collage Station with KID smART
10am- 12pm Screen-Printing T-Shirts with Mónica Mejía
10am- 12pm Reset With the Sun with Hye Sea (weather permitting)
12pm-2pm Panning for Fool’s Gold with Angela Driscoll
2-4pm Doodle Buttons with Laura Gipson
4pm-6pm Scribble Scroll -Fool Power Mode : Maximum Fool Capacity Unlock Doodle Power!
6pm-8pm Foolish Games with Stan Danley- The Game of StandyLand
10pm-12pm Jester Gestures – Figure Drawing with Ron Bechet
12pm-2am Draw-a-oke (Drawing+Karaoke!) MC’d by Ingrid Sibley
2am-4am Camp Cassingham
5:30am- Drawing Harvest Time and Tidy Up
6:50am- Sunrise
Ongoing Activities:
Draw-A-Tron 3000, designed by Thom Karamus
Black Hole with MaPó Kinnord
Whimsy Post – Presented by the Ministry of Supreme Happiness
Splendiferous Scribble Scroll with Caesar Meadows
Leadbelly’s #2 Corner Store and Paper Deli
This year’s 24HR Draw-A-Thon was made possible by additional support from John Pope, Blick Arts Materials, KIDsmART, and our hosts at The NOCCA Foundation. This program is additionally supported in part by a Community Arts Grant made possible by the City of New Orleans and managed by Arts New Orleans. T-Shirt and poster design by Kendrik James.
