The Sketchbook Project
The Sketchbook Project is an ongoing enterprise that promotes creativity. Anyone can contribute a sketchbook that can be viewed online, in a traveling exhibition, or in a Williamsburg, Brooklyn storefront library.
To be a part of this creative movement, you just need to purchase a sketchbook through the Project’s website, register it, fill up the pages, and mail it back.
What you do to create your sketchbook can run the gamut - from writing text to making drawings, watercolors, collages, etc.
“While The Sketchbook Project at its core is about teaching everyday people to be creative and to share their value, Brooklyn Art Library is about teaching people to interact with art and their community in new and approachable ways.
We travel the country hosting pop-up residencies, drawing events and school visits, all using our core principle of ‘anyone to participate in creativity.’
Your sketchbook is not just part of a global collection, it will be a part of a physical exhibition that may inspire a group of second graders, while simultaneously bringing together an entire town.”
Since its founding as a non-profit organization in 2006, the Project has grown to include over 50,000 artists’ books, which have been contributed by 30,000+ artists from over 135 countries. Each book is 5" x 7”, with blank pages and a unique six-digit barcode, for cataloging and tracking purposes.
You can send a sketchbook any time of the year to be included in their library. But, if you want to have your sketchbook included in their popups, exhibitions, and installations that take place across North America, make sure to pay attention to their deadlines - in general, you'll need to order your sketchbook by mid-November and return it by the following mid-February to be included in special events.
You can submit a sketchbook after the deadline – it just won’t be included in the traveling exhibitions. It’ll be placed on the shelves of the Brooklyn library, available to be browsed.
The Project suggests themes to consider each year. In 2019-2020, the suggested themes were: Daydream, Scenes From a Story, A Lasting Impression, An Untitled Sketchbook, Straighter Than Narrow, Pencil Me In, Legacy, Time Trapped, Anthem, Forget What Was Said, Expires in an Hour, I Used To, Drip and Drop, Tactile Qualities, Mixed Use, and A Visual Short Story of the Day We Left.
For their Vol. 17 Project, themes to consider are: Sunset Hues, Marks and Markers, Transparencies, Watercolor Whispers, Erasing Everything, Doodle a Daydream, Promises with Pencil, Great Stories in Graphite, Art Accident, Zig Zag, Cityscape Escape, and Mask and Tape.
When you purchase a sketchbook through their website, you can choose to pay more to have it digitized when you send it back, in which case your book will have its own url, and can be viewed online by anyone.
“More than just filling up a book - you are funding and contributing to a massive global movement. This library and project have existed for over a decade and have continued to act as not only a creative space, but a living time capsule for stories.
Yes, it’s a 5x7” sketchbook, but you’re participating in an experience that is being replicated across the world, by thousands of people of various backgrounds, ages, occupations, challenges and accomplishments. You are all coming together as a collective resource, sharing the moments, secrets and stories that are specific to you and only you.
We offer free notifications via text or email, every time your book is viewed - whether it’s through one of our traveling experiences or right at Brooklyn Art Library. Getting a text that someone in the world is looking at your work right now is a million times better than a like.
Our checkout process fuses digital and analog ways of discovering artwork. After searching our catalog, visitors select books to view in an interactive experience. Make sure to add your social media handle or URL to the back of your book so visitors can follow your work.
Your sketchbook will be given a unique six-digit barcode - this allows us to keep track of your book and record who views it at every tour and while it's in our library. You can log into your account and see real time statistics about your book.”
How to Connect
The Art Library is open for visitors Wednesdays through Sundays. You can follow the Project through their website, on Instagram, and on Facebook. See the Project's home, order, and FAQ pages for more details.
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