The world’s largest collection of artist sketchbooks is moving to St. Pete
/The Sketchbook Project has resided in Brooklyn for the past decade. It will soon join St. Pete’s growing creative community as the collection relocates to The Factory in the Warehouse Arts District.
After spending over a decade in Brooklyn, the world’s largest collection of artist sketchbooks is moving to St. Pete. The Sketchbook Project will be located inside The Factory, a new creative arts destination in St. Pete’s Warehouse Arts District, at 2622 Fairfield Avenue South, Building 8A.
“St. Pete is an amazing, fast growing creative community and we are excited to put some roots here,” said Steven Peterman, the founder of The Sketchbook Project. “We hope the community really supports us.”
The collection boasts an impressive 55,000 sketchbooks (and growing!) from over 100 different countries. The pages of these books are filled with rough sketches, paintings, portraits, and comics using mediums like graphite, charcoal, chalk, watercolor, and ink. They tell stories of love, comedy, guilt, tragedy, and politics.
Anyone can participate in the project by going to The Sketchbook Project’s website and ordering a book. After filling the pages with your creations, you’ll mail it back. And then it lives permanently in collection.
On Monday, on the collection’s way down to St. Pete, a fire broke out in the moving trailer destroying thousands of sketchbooks
Tragedy struck earlier this week during the collections big move from the Big Apple to the Sunshine City. The moving trailer that was transporting the entire Sketchbook Project collection was in a devastating accident and caught fire while driving through Baltimore.
Peterman reports that most of the supplies that helped operate the organization were destroyed and around 7,000 to 10,000 sketchbooks are still unaccounted for.
However, the rest of The Sketchbook Project collection was saved thanks to the heroic efforts of local volunteers, firefighters, and community members from a nearby church who so kindly moved each box of books one by one into their parking lot.
"At this moment, we are asking our community to please consider donating to help us rebuild our platform," said Peterman. "The loss of each sketchbook is unimaginable, but to lose the spirit of the collection and the mission of the project’s creative community we have spent years cultivating would be even worse."
You can help the Sketchbook Project to rebuild by donating to their Fire Relief GoFundMe.
Owner of the Sketchbook Project and Pete’s General, Steven Peterman, and his wife Sara
Initially, the new 1,700 square foot space in St. Pete will only be open to the public during special events and fundraisers. By the end of the year, the collection will have more regular open hours.
After crossing the threshold at The Sketchbook Project’s new space, you’ll be surrounded by one of the most incredible global art projects in the world. Explore the shelves, fan through mesmerizing artwork, read thought-provoking poems, and get lost inside the creative minds of people from near and far.
The first opportunity for St. Pete residents and visitors to experience the collection will be during an event at The Factory for Keep St. Pete Lit called “Where the Wild Things Are” at 7pm on Friday April 1st.
“I think the idea of the physical space is that you’ll come in and feel inspired and then want to contribute,” said Peterman. “As opposed to going to The Dali Museum where you feel inspired, but don’t know what to do with that inspiration.”
The pages of these books are filled with rough sketches, paintings, portraits, and comics using mediums like graphite, charcoal, chalk, watercolor, and ink. They tell stories of love, comedy, guilt, tragedy, and politics.
The topics addressed in the sketchbooks have evolved over the years. Pick up a sketchbook from 2010 and you’ll most likely find fun art inside. Now, chances are if you pull a book from 2021, it’s someone trying to share something more meaningful.
“We’ve had such an uptick of books on mental health issues and people sharing stories of trauma, cancer, and abuse,” said Peterman. “I think people have been looking for an outlet that wasn’t the internet.”
After receiving tens of thousands of sketchbooks, Peterman still doesn’t have a favorite. He believes the collection is more meaningful than the sum of its parts.
“I just love the idea of being surrounded by the different stories,” said Peterman. “I think the collection as a whole is what is so meaningful. And if you took the community out of it and looked at it from an individual standpoint, it’s just someone’s sketchbook.”
“I think the idea of the physical space is that you’ll come in and feel inspired and then want to contribute,” said Peterman. “As opposed to going to The Dali Museum where you feel inspired, but don’t know what to do with that inspiration.”
Although St. Pete will house most of the sketchbooks, Peterman also wants to share the collection with other organizations and museums around the country through various residency programs.
The main mission is to reach as many people as possible.
As a teenager, Peterman dreamed of a career in photography or film. But of course, life had different plans.
“I do remember being young and always wanting to be better at making art,” said Peterman. “I wasn’t very good at traditional art, and that definitely paved the way for what would become The Sketchbook Project.”
Halfway through college, Peterman and a group of friends decided to rent out a small art studio right outside of Atlanta. For the first art show, they sent disposable cameras all over the country. When people mailed them back, the pictures were developed and plastered all over the art studio walls. The show was titled “A Million Little Pictures.”
An excerpt from “Untitled” by Rachael Rausch. This book can be found in The Sketchbook Project’s digital library.
After a successful show, the group asked themselves, “What other objects can we send?” Someone mentioned sketchbooks.
“I was never a big sketchbook artist, so I really didn’t know there was such a huge cult following for them,” said Peterman.
The sketchbook show was a massive success. Over 500 people from all over the world had participated. After the show, the sketchbooks were sent back to the artists.
It wasn’t until 2009 when Peterman decided to start a collection of sketchbooks. He and his wife moved to Brooklyn and founded the Brooklyn Art Library to house The Sketchbook Project. The first collection was 1,500 sketchbooks.
In 2019, after a decade in Brooklyn, Peterman moved his family once again. This time to sunny St. Pete to be closer to family. He and his wife are also the owners of Pete’s General located at 2359 1st Avenue South in the Grand Central District.
An excerpt from “The Encyclopedia of Nothing Inparticular” by Amanda Nicoel White. This book can be found in The Sketchbook Project’s digital library.
And now, the rest of Peterman’s life will join him in St. Pete as The Sketchbook Project makes its move to the St. Pete.
“Finding such an amazing space has made moving the collection down here so much more exciting. There are so many cool things going on at The Factory. It just felt very kismet,” said Peterman.
The Sketchbook Project will be located inside The Factory at 2622 Fairfield Avenue South, Building 8A. The Factory is a new expansive arts hub consisting of 91,000 square feet of renovated warehouse space.
Current tenants include an interactive arts exhibit called Fairgrounds, Daddy Kool Records, SHINE Mural Festival, Keep St. Pete Lit, and tons of individual artist galleries. USF Contemporary Art Museum also recently announced an expansion into The Factory.
The Factory is a new expansive arts hub consisting of 91,000 square feet of renovated warehouse space. It’s located at 2622 Fairfield Avenue South, Building 8A.
“Our new space in St. Pete looks so much like our original Brooklyn location. It’s so similar that it almost feels like we’ve always been here,” smiled Peterman.
Be sure to follow The Sketchbook Project on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date on special events and happenings.
For more information on The Sketchbook Project and to purchase a blank sketchbook, visit their website.
Lastly, and most importantly, please help the Sketchbook Project rebuild following a devastating fire by donating to their GoFundMe.
