CAMDEN – Finished works of art can vary in myriad ways, but most pieces – no matter the medium –  often start the same: with drawing. A panel discussion with five artists featured in the ongoing Stedman Gallery exhibit, “Working Drawing,” followed by a reception, will be held at 4 to 6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 20.

Curated by Rutgers-Camden artist Bruce Garrity, “Working Drawing,” which closes Feb. 25, was designed with the college art student in mind. “All of the artists were anxious to be able to show how they utilized drawing in their work, because typically this is work that doesn’t get shown. It is however a perfect fit for a university art gallery as it allows our students see the process of an artwork’s creation,” says Garrity, whose own work is featured online this month on the Discover Jersey Arts website and in real time at the Paul Robeson Library on campus.

The 53 pieces in the “Working Drawing” exhibit include works by artists Julian Hatton, Sangram Majumdar, John Newman, Bruce Pollock, Bruce Samuelson, Joan Snyder, and Sandy Winters.  

While the artists in this show utilize digital technology in some capacity, Garrity believes what is most moving about the works is the sense of the individual that comes from being done by hand, not the computer.

“Drawing is basic to visual thinking, to begin with a blank sheet and to make marks on it is still one of the purest acts of artistic creation,” notes Garrity. “It encompasses, in one act, the individual body and mind.”

Open Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Stedman Gallery is located in the Fine Arts Complex on Third Street, between Cooper Street and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge on the Rutgers–Camden Campus.