Shani's Drink and Draw
- Shani Nizan
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Starting from the end: I hosted a special Drink and Draw event in New York, that was sold out every single week for three years.
It all started when I lived in Berlin actually, and I felt lonely. A friend suggested that I just curate an opportunity where I can meet new people, while we sit in a wine bar — so on that moment I approached the bartender and suggested to host a weekly drawing night.
I couldn't afford a model so I suggested that all participants will model for a few minutes each.
It worked great. We met every week, a small group of people, drinking wine and drawing each other. I was in charge of setting the timer mostly. That group slowly reshaped over time. In fact, they're still meeting every week these days, 8 years later.
When I moved to New York, I thought it would be a good way to introduce myself to the city. For finding a place — I created this challenge to draw 10 drawings, in 10 days, at 10 different shops, and to by the way ask them if I can host my event there.
That's how I found Book Club Bar. The coolest place in the East Village.
For the first night I hoped that at least 10 people would show up so it wouldn't be awkward, and then came 65. Those 65 people didn't come for a small group thing, they came as a crowd.
Some of them expected a class, some thought it's a show, and I certainly wasn't ready for either. I never spoke in front of a crowd, I never taught art, I never even studied art. How could I perform an entertaining art class to these 65 people? Well, I figured it out. And then again the week after that, and so on and so on for the next around 150 weeks. When it got too crowded, we started charging tickets, and when it happened again we increased the price. And people kept showing up. Eviatar, my husband, and I organized the chairs, he checked everyone in and I performed my thing. That's it really, after 3 years I felt like it's enough and it's time for something else.
But the group in Berlin are still getting together, drinking wine and drawing each other...
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