Do you recall bumping into artists on the Inverness to Aberdeen railway line last October? Well, this year Moray Council’s Arts Development team have come up with yet another spectacular way to celebrate The Campaign for Drawing’s festivities.

‘From Moray With Love’ has caught the imaginations of schools across Moray and the hearts of Londoners, with our idea of sending drawing- filled balloons up into the skies. On Sunday 26th September, Trafalgar Square in London is the venue for the national launch of The Big Draw 2004. Here, arts organisations will unite in a day- long festival called ‘Art on the Square’, and we have been asked to release some of our balloons alongside The Big Draw balloons sponsored by The Independent newspaper. The BBC is using the day to launch its new series of ‘Rolf On Art’. The hour-long programme will go out between 7 and 8pm that evening and will alert an estimated 5 million viewers to the fifth Big Draw season. It's being hailed as the largest ever live television arts event.

To young children, drawing is as natural an activity as running and playing but, as we grow and develop, in general we drop the drawing – why? It’s sad that so many people lose this ability: for me drawing has always been a natural form of expression.
Gerald Scarfe, Campaign patron 

On Friday 8th October, 10 schools across Moray are joining in the celebrations with their own release of drawing filled balloons. They have all received their Big Draw packs consisting of 50- 100 balloons each, plenty of drawing slips, advertising material and instructions. Each school, covering a wide geographical area, is being encouraged- with the support of their visiting arts specialists- to engage their staff, pupils, parents and local community in the art of drawing. Based on the message-in-a-bottle idea, the language of drawing is universal, and this is the message that will be drifting over the landscapes of Moray and beyond. Who know where the drawings may be found…

Any further information can be sought from Jacqueline Bennett, Arts Development Worker, Moray Council Tel:  01343 557149 Email:  jacqueline.bennett@moray.gov.uk