Student Sketches Bring Drexel’s Historic Objects to Life
A sketch of a jade vase by Atharva Gogate, a design graduate student in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design.
An umbrella from early 20th century Japan. A wine glass from Belgium, circa 1825. Three teapots: one from early 20th century China, one from late 19th century England and one from late 19th century Russia.
These objects are part of Drexel University’s flagship collection of art, and have more history, design and artistry than a single glance at a household object might reveal.
Undergraduate and graduate students recently took long, detailed looks at these objects — and more from the Drexel Founding Collection — as part of two classes, “Global Material Culture” and “History of Modern Design.” Their sketches, and research, are now on display in a new, free exhibition, “When We Sketch...": Student Drawings of Everyday Objects in the Drexel Founding Collection.
The exhibition will be on display until May 15, 2026, at the W. W. Hagerty Library (3300 Market St.). It’s free and open to the public Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Chinese teapot, left, and a sketch of the teapot by Anushka Agarkar, a design graduate student in the Westphal College of Media Arts & Design. Teapot photographed by Mary Elizabeth Kulesa; photo courtesy the Drexel Founding Collection.
The sketches will be shown alongside the actual objects sketched — in other words, the student art will be next to the art that inspired it. Testimonials, reminisces and explanations from the students will also be displayed.
For example, the late 19th century English teapot will be shown alongside student-written descriptions of what they saw and drew of the teapot. One Dragon shared what it was like to closely study and describe each of the four trees (and leaves, and branches, and trunks) depicted on the object. Another student discussed the colors used in the tea pot, and how the act of sketching inspired more curiosity about the story behind the teapot’s design and history.
The sketches and descriptions of the object benefitted from an exercise with the professor who taught both classes: Joseph H. Larnerd, PhD, assistant professor of art and art history in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design. During class visits to the Drexel Founding Collection, the students were split into groups — one group per object — and wrote descriptions of the object that were then given to a different group so they could draw the object based on the description alone. The lesson learned was that one person might see something another might not, and that more specificity used in a visual analysis of the object can bring more understanding of the object itself.
Larnerd frequently brings his classes to and has held exhibitions with the Drexel Founding Collection and its director, Lynn Clouser Waddell, who is also the executive director of University Collections & Exhibitions in Libraries, Collections & Archives. They have been holding versions of this type of workshop for years.
This time, however, the collaboration led to something completely new.
Westphal students Will Lazar, a music industry major, and Monyvathana Ear, a graphic design major, during an exercise for the undergraduate class. Photo credit Lynn Clouser Waddell.
This resulting exhibition, When We Sketch, is part of the Library Exhibit Initiative, which highlights courses in which students engage with the University’s diverse and numerous collections and then shows their experiential education output and creative work through an exhibition in the W. W. Hagerty Library.
It is the second exhibition of this year’s series. The first, The Philadelphia Challenge, was on display this year from May to November and involved students in a Psychology 101 “General Psychology” class taught by Eric Zillmer, PsyD, Carl R. Pacifico Professor of Neuropsychology and director of The Happiness Lab in the College of Arts and Sciences. Those undergraduates were inspired by objects in the Atwater Kent Collection at Drexel when deciding where happiness can be found in Philadelphia, and their object descriptions and happy places were shown in the exhibition.
A third exhibition, Exploring National Anniversaries Through the Atwater Kent Collection at Drexel, will be on display next year from May to November and will feature the work of students from a class taught by Toni Pitock, PhD, associate teaching professor of history in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Drexel faculty interested in collaborating with Drexel’s cultural resources for a future Library Exhibit Initiative endeavor can complete this faculty interest form.