Open call for Urban Sketchers Emerging Storytellers Initiative

USkEmergingStorytellers is a new initiative by Urban Sketchers looking to showcase reportage artists and visual storytellers aged 18-25. They’re on a mission to empower and celebrate the next generation of reportage artists, and they need your talent to make it happen.

Partnering with ROMAN SZMAL, makers of honey based, artist quality watercolours, they’re on the lookout for talented young artists to embark on a thrilling reportage sketch project.

What is Reportage?

• Reportage is a visual account of a cultural phenomenon, event, current history, etc., based on drawings made from direct observation while on location. The drawings have to tell a story by capturing an event or life within a local community showing context, characters, and setting. Sketches are accompanied by short pieces of narrative writing presented directly on the drawings or added separately. The narrative is informed by firsthand accounts, research, and interviews. A successful visual reportage gives viewers a feeling for the setting and the people.

Award Information

• The project artist and Emerging Storyteller selected will be notified 24 August 2024 and will receive a free Sketch Pass (value $260) to the USk Symposium Buenos Aires 9-12 October 2024. They will additionally receive an award of $500 USD.
• They will be giving away 10 Goody Bags for Rising Stars to use in a reportage sketch project.
  • The goody bag includes a set of Aquarius Urban Sketching watercolor paints, Da Vinci Casaneo travel brush, and a sketchbook by Tomasz Kowal.

Documentation

• As you work on your visual reportage they ask that you document your project in photos, videos, and other media as much as you can. These could include photos of you sketching on location, photos of your subject and the setting, audio files of interviews with your subjects, time lapses, and so on.

Who can participate?

• Sketchers of all abilities and styles are encouraged to apply. A condition of participation is that all work must be completed by artists who will be aged 18-25 at the time the USk Symposium takes place in Buenos Aires (9-12 October 2024).

For more information, visit Urban Sketchers.