The Kilmer Mansion will open its doors to 10 young artists competing in Binghamton University Department of Art and Design’s 10th annual 24-Hour Draw-a-thon this Saturday. Starting at 11 a.m., selected undergraduate and graduate students will compete to create a large-scale drawing over the course of an entire day. The event is free, open to the public and will double as a nonperishable food drive.

With the incentive of both creative and cash prizes, the artists will be judged by a panel of three jurors traditionally chosen from a variety of artistic disciplines. This year, two of the University’s own art and design professors will judge with a specialization in graphic design and studio art. The third juror will be a representative of the local sponsor, the Broome County Arts Council.

The first prize of $500 and the second prize of $250 will be chosen by the panel. The third-prize winner will be awarded art supplies and will be determined by public vote.

Aubrey Abramson, a member of the Art and Design Student Advisory Committee and a junior double-majoring in history and philosophy, politics and law, helped select this year’s participants based on their portfolio submissions.

“Choosing the ten participants to compete in the Draw-a-thon was one of the hardest decisions throughout this process,” Abramson wrote in an email. “The SAC circulates an application throughout the student body and asks for each student to submit a collection of five to ten of their best pieces. Once the application form closes, the committee spends hours discussing each application. We look for a multitude of qualities and attempt to create a group with unique styles who we predict will excel in this twenty-four hour challenge.”

Abramson also expressed the interesting character of the new venue for the Draw-a-thon. She said that the Kilmer Mansion has a “beautiful” interior, which can help form connections between the University and Binghamton’s artistic scenes.

According to Jordan Kornreich, a lecturer in the Department of Art and Design, the new location pairs with the department’s goals of unifying on and off-campus communities and drawing a diverse crowd.

“That this event can exist as a chance for ambitious student artists to immerse themselves in an intensive studio-based experience is something I love on a personal level, but I generally appreciate that we use this event as a way to enhance our department’s activity, establish relationships between on and off-campus populations and contribute positively towards the local community,” Kornreich wrote in an email. “Building on the drawing marathon’s success in previous years, we hope to further expand this event’s goals; this includes improving it as a competitive opportunity for eager art students, engaging with the community through university-based activities, and creating circumstances for supporting those in need within our local area.”

The 10 competing artists will continue working until Sunday at 10:30 a.m., when they will finish creating their masterpieces. This will mark the beginning of judging and the event’s closing ceremony, which will continue until 11:30 a.m. After the event, the finished pieces will be displayed together in the Grand Corridor of the Fine Arts Building, as they were last year.

Adrian Ashby, a first-year graduate student studying business administration, will be one of the 10 artists competing this weekend.

“This is my first time participating in the Draw-a-thon,” Ashby wrote in an email. “I am looking forward to being back in a studio setting. I studied art for my Bachelor’s so I miss being in settings such as this. I would like to see what I can draw with 24 hours.”

Visitors will be able to observe the artists working during the competition, watching each contestant’s progress as the 24-hour timer winds down. The Kilmer Mansion will be open to the public on Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. In the evening, student musical groups will perform.

Past years of competition have garnered attention on social media and various local news platforms. The pieces produced are the culmination of hours of hard work and dedication, and this year’s competition is sure to be just as exciting.