Drawing Marathon Returns to Summer Circle Theatre Courtyard Sept. 23

The annual Drawing Marathon, hosted by MSU’s Department of Art, Art History, and Design, returns this year to the Summer Circle Theatre Courtyard, located in front of the Kresge Art Center, on Tuesday, Sept. 23, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. In the event of rain, the Drawing Marathon will move inside the Kresge Art Center.

The public is invited to this non-stop, eight-hour drawing event, which will feature several drawing-themed activities, including guided and collaborative drawing from life and imagination. IMPACT 89FM will be broadcasting from the Drawing Marathon throughout the entire event. Drawing supplies will be provided for free, though participants can also bring their favorite materials to work with. The only requirement is to have fun and get creative!

A small group of students gathers around a large easel with a charcoal drawing of trees and abstract shapes, with another student on the side of the frame. — The 2025 Drawing Marathon, hosted by MSU’s Department of Art, Art History, and Design, runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at the Summer Circle Theatre Courtyard, located in front of the Kresge Art Center on MSU’s campus.

A student with long hair and a striped purple sweater draws on a large outdoor canvas covered in abstract, black-and-white sketch-style illustrations, including a large fish-like figure. — The 2025 Drawing Marathon, hosted by MSU’s Department of Art, Art History, and Design, runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at the Summer Circle Theatre Courtyard, located in front of the Kresge Art Center on MSU’s campus.

This year, the Department of Art, Art History, and Design will feature the work and talent of multiple areas from the department and beyond at the event. Students and faculty from Sculpture, Art Education, Photography, and Printmaking will be leading activities with supplies available for everyone to participate. In addition, the Transgender Student Support Center and MSU Surplus will be hosting drawing-based activities using a variety of materials.

“We want the Drawing Marathon to be a wholistic, art-inclusive event,” said Candice Chovanec, Assistant Professor in the Department of Art, Art History, and Design, who is organizing this year’s marathon. “The activities all utilize drawing in some way and highlight the importance of drawing to every artistic practice. We hope everyone finds something to spark their own creative expression.”

“We want the Drawing Marathon to be a wholistic, art-inclusive event. The activities all utilize drawing in some way and highlight the importance of drawing to every artistic practice. We hope everyone finds something to spark their own creative expression.”
Candice Chovanec, Assistant Professor and organizer of the 2025 Drawing Marathon

MSU’s Department of Art, Art History, and Design has organized the Drawing Marathon since 2006. It originally was held at the Summer Circle Theatre Courtyard until it moved in 2015 to the Broad Art Museum in collaboration with the museum’s education department. This year, the event returns to the Summer Circle Theatre Courtyard.

“The activities have evolved over the years, but I think it doesn’t have to be more complicated than finding a nice excuse to get the art and design students out of their studios and the wider community invited into a creative space,”said Robert McCann, painter, Associate Professor, and Chair of the Department of Art, Art History, and Design who is one of the original co-organizers of the Drawing Marathon. “It’s fun to make things together, and a ‘marathon’ suggests the physical and enduring quality of art.”

Following the Drawing Marathon, some of the work created during the event will be placed on display in the Kresge Art Center.

By Kim Popiolek