Urban Sketchers bring art and community together across the Triad

Once a month, a group of artists meet up in the Triad and capture their surroundings through art.

Maria Senkel, one of the lead organizers for the Urban Sketchers Piedmont Triad chapter, said that urban sketching is a form of journalism and storytelling.

"Urban sketching is more concentrated on stories. The environment is what gives it a story," Senkel said. "It's used in traveling. Instead of taking a photograph so that you can remember the place, you draw it. You give hints as to where it is."

The next Urban Sketchers Piedmont Triad chapter meeting will be on Saturday, July 11 from 10 a.m. to noon in downtown Kernersville, starting at Kyle's Coffee.

Senkel said the group is free and is open to anyone who is interested in urban sketching.

"It's really open to anybody who wants to relax for two hours and draw whatever. You don't have to show it, there's no pressure. It's just a day that you put some time aside for yourself," Senkel said.

Senkel said that artists can use any medium, but most people opt for portable mediums including ink pens, watercolors, colored pencils, and markers.

Senkel emphasized that the events are not classes, but artists are welcome to share advice and learn together.

Senkel said that when she scouts around the Triad for future meeting locations, she looks for places with points of interest and nearby coffee shops.

Past meeting locations have included Lot 63 and Melrose Coffee in Winston-Salem, Cohab Space in High Point, and Körner's Folly and the Kernersville Auto Museum in Kernersville.

Senkel said the Urban Sketchers Piedmont Triad chapter is part of the larger global community of Urban Sketchers.

Urban Sketchers began in 2007, when Gabriel Campanario, a Seattle-based journalist and illustrator created an online forum on Flickr for on-location artists. In 2009, Urban Sketchers became a nonprofit organization in the state of Washington, according to the Urban Sketchers website.

Senkel said urban sketching gives artists a creative outlet and an opportunity to meet with other artists.

"Every time we go to meet to sketch, it feels lighter. It's like ‘Okay, this is the way it should be.' We're doing what we love. We're talking to each other," Senkel said.

To stay updated on any Urban Sketchers Piedmont Triad chapter meetings, follow the Urban Sketchers Piedmont Triad Facebook group.

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