Conceptual Drawing: Thinking Outside the Box with Jamal Thorne

Contributed by Suzie Kim, S-L Program Assistant and Co-op

April 24, 2015

Northeastern students working alongside AFH students

I had the pleasure of interviewing Jamal Thorne early this March. We sat across from each other in the bustling first floor of Ryder Hall, the hub of the College of Arts, Media and Design courses.

As a college student, Jamal was a pioneer in his field. He was among a group of students who initiated a newly formed cooperative M.F.A program between the Museum of Fine Arts and Northeastern University. During this time, he received the Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant, a significant grant that aids and assists contemporary artists. With his experience, it is no surprise that he was the facilitator of a new service-learning art course this semester called Conceptual Drawing.

His Conceptual Drawing course is different from a traditional art class in two ways. First, the course does not teach students to draw in an observational manner.

“We think about what to draw and that thought process becomes the things that you want to draw. Instead of painting an apple, we paint an idea, a conversation, emotions, human interactions, we draw transformation,”explains  Jamal.

The class explores how intangible and abstract things – such as emotions, conversations, thoughts, ideas – are transferred into visual representations  through different mediums.

The second distinct characteristic of this course is that it is one of  the newest additions to the Service-Learning roster. It works in partnership with Artists for  Humanity (AFH), a nonprofit organization that provides a safe and meaningful place for urban teens with a passion for art.The  program employs high school students of every art level to explore  art as a creative outlet  through internship  programs.

Conceptual Drawing then pairs  the high school students of AFH with college art students. Course instruction takes place at AFH, which Jamal described many times as “alive and electric.”  (To see pictures, click here)   

Students take notes as Jamal Thorne gives his lecture on the
on the site of Artists for Humanities

Jamal believes that the course provides an opportunity for these relationships to form in a very organic manner and the benefits of the partnership comes full circle.

Painting by AFH student 

“[College students] develop inhibitions in [their] creative faculties as [they] get older. They’re analytical in their thinking and their [art] style whereas the teen participants’ age, there are no hesitations. There are infinite possibilities,” Jamal said. “When the Northeastern students are faced with the uninhibited creative influence of the high school students, they are forced to push themselves.”

The grade in this class is not reflective only of the student’s artistic skills, but also how well they interact with the high school students and establish flourishing mentor-mentee relationship. The course encourages college students and the high school students to actually get to know each other through discussions about their assignments.

Finished paintings are set out to dry 

As for the AFH high school students, they were given the opportunity to receive college level art instruction as well as positive role models that were close in age.

Jamal believes that art is a great tool for engagement and empowerment.  Service-Learning always welcomes new mediums of civic engagement and will continue to look out for innovative opportunities such as Conceptual Drawing.

For students who are interested, Conceptual Drawing is open to students of all majors and will be available in the upcoming fall semester.