From The President

The year 2020 was a challenge for Urban Sketchers and the entire world. It is daunting to list all the events and upheavals that made this year one of incredible suffering, hardship and confusion. No Symposium, no workshops, no chapter gatherings. The world-wide pandemic struck at the root of what we do and who we are as Urban Sketchers. Despite all this, we prevailed!

The year began as usual, planning for workshops and activities, organizing social media campaigns, approving new chapters, gathering stories for Drawing Attention and getting ready for the Board’s annual face-to-face meeting. By late February early March, most of this came to a halt as lockdowns began across Asia, Europe, North and South America. On top of all the personal difficulties we faced, there was the concern of how to keep the USk community informed and active, and how to keep urban sketching alive during a global pandemic. There were four big ideas that were conceived by USk members:

1. USk Talks 2. Global Chapter Meetings 3. Drawing Attention and Social Media 4. Reflection and Restructure

USk Talks was conceived and developed by the Education Committee as a way to engage Urban Sketchers and keep the community informed and vibrant. A series of talks with well known Urban Sketchers and sketching challenges explored sketching practices during lockdown, ways of viewing the world through your window and a great many topics of interest. The popularity of the program, first through Instagram Live (IGTV) and now through USk YouTube, has given way to a second season and the development of the Reportage Grant Program.

The Membership Committee organized a world-wide chapter administrators meeting to see how everyone was doing and to answer any questions skechers had. It was an amazing gathering

of over 100 members, sharing and discussing their experience during the pandemic. That initial meeting has led to quarterly meetings that help share ideas and strategies on how groups can continue to show the world ‘one drawing at a time’.

The Drawing Attention (DA) and social media teams kept us informed and up to date on what was happening around the world, how people were coping and keeping active. The sharing of information in various languages made DA more inclusive and spoke to the organization’s global reach and diversity. Across all USk platforms, sketchers continued to display their work, share their thoughts and tell the story of the pandemic.

The Board’s annual meeting was held remotely last July. In addition to the monthly meeting duties, the Board worked together to develop the strategic plan for 2021-2023. The slowdown during 2020 allowed the board to think and rethink its strengths, weaknesses and how to better meet our mission.

We also saw the passing of Eduardo Salavisa, an early member of Urban Sketchers. Eduardo was a great inspiration in the world of graphic diaries and urban sketching in Portugal, and one of the founders of the Portugal association. Eduardo was born and lived in Lisbon, graduated from the School of Fine Arts and was a secondary school teacher. He will be missed.

Urban Sketchers exists thanks to hundreds of volunteers around the world – from our regional chapter administrators and instructors to our Executive Board, Social Media team and dozens of committee members. Thank you to our volunteers for all they do to make our work possible. And thank you to the 200,000+ followers. We are proud of the work we’re doing together to share, support, and engage in our mission to show the world, one drawing at a time.

Happy Sketching,

Richard Alomar 2020 President Urban Sketchers