MPLSART Sketchbook Project 2020

Artwork by Hend Al-Mansour
Artwork by Gordon Coons
Artwork by Christopher Harrison
Artwork by allison anne
Artwork by Blaine Garrett
Artwork by Sean Ferris

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MPLSART Sketchbook Project 2020

A Collaborative Art Project Supporting Artists and Bringing Creators Together

The 2020 MPLSART Sketchbook Project is a unique survey of the Twin Cities visual arts community during a most challenging year. Over the last several months of 2020, 69 local artists contributed 120 original works to a series of five traveling sketchbooks.

In the context of the pandemic, racial reckoning, and political division, the sketchbooks quietly passed from artist to artist throughout the Twin Cities. For some artists, their contribution is an expression of their anguish or their sense of hope. For others, the project helped overcome intense creative block or allowed them to try something new that they carried forward in their practice. Regardless, every image in the sketchbooks is infused with the artists’ mind and heart, capturing the spirit of the times.

Update - 2021 Sketchbook Project

With the success of the 2020 Project, we have launched the 2021 Sketchbook Project. Learn More.

The Original Sketchbooks

Over the last several months of 2020, 69 local artists contributed 120 original works to a series of five traveling sketchbooks. In an amazing conclusion to the project, the Minnesota Museum of American Art (The M) acquired all five original sketchbooks for their permenant collection.

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Limited Edition Book

The 2020 MPLSART Sketchbook Project was compiled into an amazing ultra limited edition book collecting the contributions of all 69 artists. This beautiful hardcover book boasts 88 full color pages and features work made exclusively for the MPLSART Sketchbook Project. The book was produced through the support of 196 backers to our successful kickstarter campaign.Learn More

The Exhibition

In April 2021, Gamut Gallery hosted an exhibition featuring 35 of the artists involved in the Sketchbook Project and gave the public a first-hand look at the five original sketchbooks. As one of the first major in-person events since Covid-19 vaccines became available, the exhibition was an amazing community building event capped off with a wonderful artist talk.

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