Valley City Hosts Interactive Sketchbook Exhibit, Draws Global Art

Valley City State University’s Center for the Arts Gallery opened The Sketchbook Project on December 1, presenting what organizers describe as the world's largest sketchbook collection in an exhibit that runs through January 16. The display invites visitors to handle and flip through hundreds of small 5 by 7 sketchbooks contributed by artists from around the world, and will be available during regular gallery hours with appointment viewing also provided. The run spans 47 days, giving residents and regional visitors an extended window to experience the interactive format.

The Sketchbook Project began in 2006 and has collected thousands of sketchbooks over nearly two decades, with parts of the archive housed at the Taube Museum of Art and a network of distributed institutions. Bringing a selection to Valley City embeds an international arts resource into a local venue, creating opportunities for classroom use, community workshops, and informal arts education accessible to students and residents who might otherwise not encounter work from this global pool.

For Stutsman County the exhibit offers a modest cultural economic stimulus. Interactive shows tend to increase foot traffic to campus and downtown businesses, and a university gallery that encourages hands on engagement can lengthen visitor stays compared with traditional passive exhibits. The local arts scene also gains programming flexibility, since the exhibit can be integrated into VCSU class visits, public events, and partnerships with local schools during the six week run.

The project’s distributed model reflects a broader trend in arts curation, where centralized collections are loaned to regional institutions to expand access and build local audiences. For Valley City, that means immediate benefits in cultural capital and potential longer term gains if recurring programming draws repeat visitors and strengthens civic support for arts funding.

Residents interested in seeing the collection can visit the Center for the Arts Gallery during posted hours or schedule an appointment. The interactive nature of the show makes it particularly suited to families, students, and anyone who wants a tactile encounter with contemporary sketch practices from across the globe.