Cambridge School of Art at Anglia Ruskin University has won a prestigious Drawing Inspiration Award from the Campaign for Drawing for The Big Draw, which saw 98 teenagers attending a Saturday workshop at Anglia Ruskin designed to inspire, motivate and widen their perception of drawing's scope and significance in a wide range of creative disciplines.

The Big Draw was coordinated and co-delivered by AccessArt, a registered UK charity who facilitate high quality visual arts workshops and events, and supported by VIVID, (Value Increase by Visual Design), a cross-border network in which a number of leading parties in visual arts have joined forces to give the sector an economic boost.

The Drawing Inspiration Award, generously sponsored by NADFAS (The National Association of Decorative & Fine Arts Societies), is awarded to the event that most successfully engages young people in creative activities. Led by expert tutors and artists, the teenagers immersed themselves in 1 of 6 workshops, exploring drawing in relation to architecture, sculpture, animation, textiles, autobiographical narratives and illustration. The students enjoyed using state of the art facilities and resources, learning new skills, developing their ideas and sharing the outcomes with other teenagers.

Chris Owen, Head of Cambridge School of Art, said: "It is events like this that help to enthuse teenagers to want to pursue a creative career. We were delighted to open up Cambridge School of Art for a day so that local young people could enjoy using the range of facilities we have there. It was wonderful to see the passion and creativity they all brought in with them. They are going to be the artists and designers of tomorrow."

The Campaign for Drawing was launched in 2000, aiming to 'put drawing back on the agenda' by promoting its use as a tool for thought and creativity as well as for social and cultural engagement.

Campaign Director Sue Grayson Ford praised the event's success: "AccessArt and Cambridge School of Art at Anglia Ruskin University superbly demonstrated The Big Draw's aims of bringing people together, engaging them creatively and supporting active learning. I am amazed at how organisers constantly expand drawing's boundaries, by bringing vast amounts of enthusiasm and imagination to their events."

Another Cambridge School of Art event, The Big Draw on Tour, previously won the Highly Commended award from the Campaign for Drawing in its 2012 Drawing Inspiration Awards. The aim of the project was to use drawing as a vehicle to allow young children and their families to look at museum collections more closely, using them as the basis for drawing activities. The project was organised by The University of Cambridge Museums' Connecting Collections programme, and venues included Romsey Mill, Cambridge Central Library and the University of Cambridge Museums.

The award was presented on 19 March, along with a commemorative certificate designed by Quentin Blake, and a cheque that will be reinvested into teenage creativity.

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