The USk Regional Events Grant Program Turns 5, and We’re Celebrating with a Sketch Relay!

Five years ago, the Urban Sketchers Regional Events Grant began with a simple idea: What happens when we help sketchers gather, locally, regionally, and across borders?

Since then, these grants have supported workshops, sketchwalks, festivals, meetups, and unexpected moments of connection in cities around the world. Sketchers have drawn together in markets, riversides, train stations, neighborhoods, temples, cafés, and public squares. Strangers became friends. Chapters became bigger communities.

So this year, instead of launching the new call for applications with a formal announcement, we wanted to start with the people who brought these events to life. We’re inviting past Regional Events Grant recipients to take part in a global sketch relay.

Over the coming days, chapters will share a sketch or photo from their funded event, along with a short memory from that moment:
where they were drawing, who they met, what surprised them, and what stayed with them afterward.

Each post will tag other chapters to continue the relay across the world.

Together, they will tell the story best of what these grants make possible, through real moments shared across cities, communities, and sketchbooks around the world.

Alongside the relay, we’re excited to open applications for the 2026/2027 Urban Sketchers Regional Events Grant Program.

The program supports chapter-led regional events that bring sketchers together to learn, connect, and strengthen local sketching communities. Grants of up to $2,000 USD are available for events that encourage collaboration between chapters, create educational opportunities, and make regional gatherings more accessible.

The Program is open to officially recognized Urban Sketchers chapters planning events that take place between September 1, 2026 and December 31, 2027.

We welcome proposals for events such as:

• regional sketch gatherings and festivals
• workshops and educational programming
• collaborative chapter events
• exhibitions and public activities connected to urban sketching
• other initiatives that support community building through drawing

Applications will be evaluated based on community impact, regional collaboration, accessibility, educational value, feasibility, and alignment with the Urban Sketchers mission.

Interested?  We have some tips in applying for the USk Regional Events Grant in this video below.

APPLY NOW!

The 2026 Urban Sketchers Regional Events Grant Program is now open from 24 May to 26 July 2026, 23:59 UTC.

You can find the full application guidelines and submission form HERE.

Successful proposals will be announced in mid-August 2026.

And in the meantime, follow the sketch relay as it travels from chapter to chapter around the world on social media @urbansketchers

We can’t wait to see where the relay goes next 🙂