We are delighted to announce the recipients of the Urban Sketchers Reportage Grant 2025. From around the world we received 66 submissions on a wide variety of topics.
The USk Reportage Grant Program is open to individual sketchers, chapters, and creative collaborators from around the world. Visual storytelling lies at the heart of the USk movement. The program is designed to highlight the best examples of these efforts and to inspire new artist-reporters in our community.
What is reportage?
Reportage is a visual account of a cultural phenomenon, event, current history, etc., based in drawings completed from direct observation while on location. The drawings have to tell a story by capturing an event and 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 account, research, and interviews. A successful visual reportage gives viewers a feeling for the setting and the people.
What makes a successful reportage project?
- An interesting idea
- That the author has the necessary drawing skills
- The drawings tell a story
- There is evidence of research – going beyond what is purely on the surface
- The drawings transmit the sense of place
Selected projects 2025
In 2025 the selection committee consisting of 6 judges completed the assessment process and agreed that the USk grant would help to further the project for these 5 recipients :
- Dominika Wróblewska (Poland) – A year in the life of a fountain
- Winta Assefa (Ethiopia) The Energetic Loci of Addis Ababa
- Kevin Lucas Ribeiro Areas (Brazil) – Brazilian Atlantis: How Can Urban Sketching Perpetuate the History of a Region That Is Gradually Being Swallowed by the Sea?
- Jia You (UK) – Life Afloat: Sketching London’s Canal Communities
- Namrata Das (India) – The Holy Hunger
Many congratulations to all !
Winning proposals will now receive a grant in order to offset expenses related to the project. The authors will have until May 31, 2026 to complete the proposed project including the completion of at least 12 on-location sketches that tell the story in a reportage format.
We will share the reportages on our website and across our social media channels, so please check back soon and subscribe to our quarterly newsletter for details!
Reportage Grant 2025 Selection Committee
Special thanks to the following artists and educators for their time and expertise in assessing the proposals.
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