Sketchbook Project: Art Hits the Road
When the Sketchbook Project rolled into San Francisco, I didn't know what to expect. I was told it is "like a taco truck, but with sketchbooks." I did in fact find a trailer that looked like a taco trunk when I showed up to the Sketchbook Project's SF tour stop in the city's Design District. What I didn't anticipate was that the inside of this trailer was stacked with over 10,000 sketchbooks of art.
Sketchbook Project is a "global, crowd-sourced art project and interactive, traveling exhibition of handmade books." The project's mission is to "allow anyone to be able to participate in art and to create a collection of work that represents the current state of artists worldwide." Participates can get a sketchbook through the mail or at one of the project's tour stops. No sketchbook is turned away, all entries become part of the library. The project's library headquarters is in Brooklyn and after each tour, sketchbooks are achieved at this location and join 27,876 other sketchbooks as part of the project's permanent collection.
My experience at Sketchbook Project SF tour stop can be broken down in a few steps:
1. Get a library card
2. Check out books. A computer will pick sketchbooks for you based on such things as mood, emotions and topics of interest.
3. Pick up your books and enjoy!
4. Return your books for others to explore.
The Sketchbook Project enables and encourages true artistic freedom. It reminds us that the human psyche has no inherit boundaries. The pain felt by someone in South America is just as raw and truthful as it is for someone in North America. For more information about how to participate in the project check out their website here>>.
