The Department of Art and Design’s Student Advisory Committee will be hosting the ninth-annual 24-hour Draw-A-Thon in room 358 of the Fine Arts Building starting at 10 a.m. this Friday. For the second year, the event will feature a nonperishable food drive with donations going to Outreach Ministries.

At this event, 10 students will work on large drawings capturing still-life arrangements for 24 hours. Visitors are welcome and encouraged to observe the artists and to cast their vote for the winner of the People’s Prize.

Two cash prizes will be awarded — the Jury Prize, for $500, is voted on by arts faculty, and the People’s Prize, for $250, is decided by observers. The department purchased a basket of art supplies from the Art Co-op, a student-run art supply store, which will be awarded to a participant.

All of the participants will receive goods donated by one of their many sponsors — Golden Artist Colors, Paul & Sons Pizza, Strange Brew Cafe, Black Coffee Roasting Company, Harpur’s Edge, the School of the Arts, the Department of Art and Design and the Art Co-op.

Jordan Kornreich, a lecturer in the Department of Art and Design, is helping to coordinate the event for a second year and sees it as a way to build community among artists and nonartists alike.

“Community is important for artists because of how it can establish support for like-minded creative types,” Kornreich wrote in an email. “Art stems from the individual’s general impulse to make something; sometimes an artistic community serves as a supportive factor for professional practicing artists. These kinds of communities also serve part of the public who may not feel an impulsive need to make something but find it essential to engage with the product of one’s artistic impulse. Some people like to make art, others may not while still having a deep appreciation for art.”

With an emphasis on creating this community, the Art Co-op has been asked to assemble the supplies for each contestant as well as formulate a prize supply box. Aubrey Abramson, the co-op’s vice president and a sophomore majoring in philosophy, politics and law, has been diligently working with fellow student volunteers to prepare for the event.

“The Art Co-op is important because we provide affordable art supplies to students and residents of the Greater Binghamton area,” Abramson wrote in an email. “As a nonprofit, we prioritize accessibility and providing to the local community. With direct connection with the fine arts community at Binghamton, we can communicate with students and faculty to best help events such as this happen. We are so excited to be involved in Drawathon and provide such an amazing opportunity for talented students to get together and create beautiful art.”

The Draw-A-Thon is a unique event that happens at Binghamton University, with its doors open for 24 hours straight and allowing the opportunity to watch art being made live. This event is a great opportunity for any students to drop in and see what the Art Department is like, all while supporting a good cause.