Drawn from the Ground: Discovering Graphite and its Secrets

Arts and Humanities Research Council, Being Human Festival

Project Leads: Dr Sarah Casey and Dr Chris Donaldson

This project, delivered as part of Being Human 2019, revealed hidden links between art, science and industrial history in the Lake District through a hands-on investigation of the mineral graphite.

Working in collaboration with the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts and Keswick Museum, we ran a workshop with museum visitors that took inspiration from Ruskin’s principle of close looking to examine the properties that made Lake District graphite famous.

Image: John Ruskin, Ferns on a Rock 1875 (© The Ruskin, Lancaster University)