BINGHAMTON, NY -- Students, alumni and community members will get to spend 24 hours practicing their artistic skills when the Binghamton University Art Museum plays host to a drawing marathon March 11-12.

The event, sponsored by the museum, the Harpur College dean’s office, Department of Art and Design, the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development, and alumni artists, will bring 10 artists to the museum from 10 a.m. Friday, March 11, to 10 a.m. Saturday, March 12. The artists will produce a finished figure drawing on a 72-inch-by-48-inch, door-sized paper. The paper, easel and charcoal-drawing materials will be provided. A model will pose for the full marathon.

A team of jurors featuring Assistant Professor of Art Blazo Kovacevic, Art Museum Director Diane Butler and John Brunelli, director of Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts Gallery in downtown Binghamton, will award a prize of $500 to one artist. A $250 "people’s prize" will also be awarded based on the comments on the Binghamton University Art Museum’s Facebook page.

For a 24-hour period, artists will work on their pieces to see how far their creativity can withstand the exhaustion. The artists will get small breaks for 15-minutes at the end of every hour and 30-minute breaks every four hours. Through out these 24 hours, the Art Museum will remain open, allowing visitors to watch the artists at work at any time.

For Kovacevic, a key to the event is the potential inclusion of students, alumni and local artists.

"We need to build a community that is strong enough to support somebody who says: ‘I want to be an artist. I came to Binghamton University to try it.’"

One goal of Kovacevic is to encourage competition and exposure, which are important aspects of the drawing marathon and the art profession itself, Kovacevic said.

For the final judgment, jurors will select 10 artists based on the applications they receive by March 1.

Interested artists should send a pdf file with 10 samples of their best figure drawings to: drawing@binghamton.edu. (Name, address, phone number and e-mail must be provided, as well.)