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A CONVERSATION WITH USK PRESIDENT GENINE CARVALHEIRA BY MARK ALAN ANDERSON
“H
ow often do you find people who are willing to talk to you for twenty minutes about the nib on a pen!” Urban Sketchers President Genine Carvalheira laughs as she recalls her first symposium in Lisbon. For an industrial and interior designer who admittedly struggled with an inner critic, it was a big leap to travel to another continent and hobnob with sketchers from around the world. The discovery of Urban Sketchers around 2008 led to her engaging with that inner voice, and like so many others she suddenly found herself drawing everything. She smiles glowingly and shares with me that “in Urban Sketchers there was this amazing community of like-minded people …”
I want to get her take on the social aspects of urban sketching, especially during the past two years. Carvalheira credits community and peers for helping her to evolve. Friendships, conversation, and learning about people are vital. “For some people, it’s all about the friendship and community, and for others their focus is on learning and growing.” We discuss “process” more than once, a topic that we explore further when Carvalheira mentions a fondness for cooking. “I guess I like to cook because it’s like building. As an industrial ABOVE: PLAZA SIMON BOLIVER
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