Urban Sketchers has announced the 11th International Urban Sketchers Symposium in Auckland, 19–22 April 2023. By sheer participation numbers — anticipated to be more than 500 — the symposium could well be the largest gathering of artists in New Zealand.

The 2023 event in Auckland will be the first held since 2019, when Auckland won the hosting rights. The Symposium hub will be at Auckland University of Technology (AUT).

USk President Genine Carvalheira said “This symposium has been postponed several times due to the pandemic. So we’re super excited to be bringing this truly global arts event to Auckland. There are still some tickets available, and this event welcomes everyone of all artistic abilities, from the novice beginner to the career professional.” Carvalheira hails from the USA, and currently resides in Bogota Colombia.

Eric Ngan, the USk Events Director and Coordinator of the USk Auckland chapter says: “The Team is stoked to welcome the world’s sketching whanau to Auckland. I’ve been to three international symposiums (Singapore 2015, Chicago 2017, Amsterdam 2019), and the vibe each time has been magic. We’re getting ready to host over 500 artists in Tāmaki Makaurau for the four-day symposium, but we also know that many of them will carry on their travels afterwards, sketching Aotearoa as they go!”

Urban sketch artists take their love of drawing into city and rural environments, working quickly but with care to capture an image of what they’re seeing in that moment. The resulting images showcase the world, one drawing at a time. Images are then posted to social media to share with the world, and will be seen by the 370+ USk chapters worldwide.

The Symposium will see participants sketch areas of Auckland city as they learn about techniques, principles and concepts of drawing on location. Workshops take place on location throughout the city and are led by instructors that are architects, illustrators, artists, and educators. Lectures, panels, demos, and sketch walks round out the four-day program.

The symposium will attract a large international audience providing an opportunity to meet and socialise with other Urban Sketchers from across the globe.

Event information:

Dates: 19–22 April 2023

Location: Auckland University of Technology (AUT) Hub, Auckland, New Zealand.

Skill level: Artists of all levels are welcome.

Tickets: Tickets are now available at Eventbrite USk Symposium Auckland 2022. Note that tickets are selling fast, so we recommend getting yours asap to avoid disappointment.

About Urban Sketchers (USk):

Urban Sketchers is a nonprofit organisation dedicated to raising the artistic, storytelling and educational value of location drawing; promoting its practice and connecting people around the world who draw on location where they live and travel.

Urban sketching was started in 2007 by a Seattle-based journalist Gabriel Campanario who, instead of photographing the situation, would sketch it. Local urban sketcher chapters now exist in cities around the world, crossing boundaries of culture and language.