Ibaraki : Kids get chance to sketch at university

The Yomiuri Shimbun

9:44 JST, September 11, 2022

TSUKUBA, Ibaraki — Children had a rare opportunity to experience sketching in a college room surrounded by some of the largest plaster figures in Japan.

In the Summer Vacation Art Day Camp 2022 at the University of Tsukuba in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, about 120 students from elementary, junior high and high schools drew objects they chose. In the university’s plaster room, there are more than 150 plaster statues, including a replica of Michelangelo’s David, as well as fruits, plants and stuffed birds on tables.

The room is usually used by students of the university’s School of Art and Design to practice drawing. During the event, children received advice from teachers and students at the university.

A 13-year-old junior high school student from Tsukuba drew a plaster cast of a horse.

“I learned tips to make the horse’s neck and other parts look three-dimensional,” she said.