Urban Sketchers Route 66 Exhibit on display in Oklahoma

Capital Cruise artwork by Rebecca Anderson

A collection of artwork from seven Urban Sketchers Chapters from across the Route 66 corridor has arrived in Tulsa and will be traveling along the road for the rest of the Centennial year.

Urban Sketchers is a non-profit community that brings artists together for on-location drawing activities. They have chapters all over the world and encourage their members to “be truthful to the scenes [they] witness.” You can see some examples from their global sketchbook here. Last year, the Tulsa chapter of USk had a Route 66 showcase with about 100 pieces, which also included work from sketchers in Oklahoma City, Chicago, and Springfield, IL. The experience inspired them to think bigger for the Centennial.

Connie McFarland, one of the founders of Tulsa’s USk chapter in 2019, began reaching out to other chapters across the historic highway. Through this collaborative effort, the new exhibit also includes work from St. Louis, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Los Angeles. The project inspired some sketchers to travel to parts of Route 66 they hadn’t seen before and then capture them artistically.

The art exhibit, which includes more than 300 sketches, is on display now at Tulsa Community College’s McKeon Creativity Center downtown and will remain until August 25th; admission is free. An artist reception is taking place on August 14th from 5 to 7 PM. In September and October, it will be on display at the Edmond History Museum and during the holidays it will be off-route in Norman, Oklahoma. It will also travel to Springfield, Missouri and Chicago, Illinois.

You can see some of the work and more details about the organization in a TulsaPeople article here.