Gather:Make:Shelter Launches ‘The Sketchbook Project’

Gather:Make:Shelter is excited to announce the launch of The Sketchbook Project, a new engagement for 2024! Throughout the coming year, GMS will be offering a free series of drawing and creative writing workshops for 300 people experiencing houselessness and poverty. Workshops will be held at our headquarters, and 10 additional partner social service agencies and alternative shelter villages. The project will culminate in a celebratory 2-month exhibition at GMS’s gallery in the Pearl District.

In our years working with unhoused members of our community, we’ve seen how sketchbooks are cherished among people’s few possessions. These workshops will harness the therapeutic power of a sketchbook practice to create a safe place to play and experiment;reduce stress; record aspirations; and inspire artistic and personal projects.

Thank you to the Oregon Arts Commission Arts Build Community Grant, Blick Art Materials and Artist & Craftsman Supply Co for supporting this project!