Asheville to host 2026 Carolinas Sketch Crawl downtown and in River Arts District

Sketchers are moving into downtown Asheville and the River Arts District for a three-day crawl that will turn sidewalks, studios and public spaces into working sketchbooks. The 2nd Annual Carolinas Sketch Crawl runs from Friday, June 5, at noon through Sunday, June 7, at 12:30 p.m., and organizers said ticketed workshops and presentations sold out in less than 48 hours.

Urban Sketchers Asheville, Charlotte and Greenville are cohosting the event, which is one of Urban Sketchers’ regional event grant recipients and limited to 126 total slots. Ticket sales opened March 1 at noon. The weekend is built around on-location drawing, with the broader Urban Sketchers network describing itself as a global community focused on drawing what people see where they stand.

Even with the workshops gone, several public events remain open to all ages and skill levels. The weekend includes an exhibit at RAD Rendezvous, Sketching without Fear at Trackside Studios, Drink and Draw at Wedge Brewery at Foundation, urban sketching at Pack Square Park, and downtown sketching around Wall Street and the Grove Arcade. Organizers also planned an architecture tour and sketching session downtown, an international postcard sketch exchange, goodie bags and a raffle.

The event also carries a clear recovery message for Asheville’s storm-hit arts district. Kim Hundertmark of the RADA Foundation said bringing the Sketch Crawl to Asheville is an opportunity to “celebrate the remarkable resilience and recovery in the RAD and across Asheville.” WNCW reported that 10 percent of participant fees are being donated to the RADA Foundation, which supports artists in the River Arts District through events, exhibitions and fundraisers.

That fundraising tie matters because the crawl is being promoted as part of the Asheville River Arts District’s renaissance and recovery, not just a weekend arts outing. Urban Sketchers Asheville organizer Lynn Pettipaw said the event could draw participants from around the Carolinas and as far away as Chicago, Orlando and Portland, while Asheville listings say the crawl is being promoted to chapters from the East Coast to the Midwest.

For downtown Asheville, that means a weekend of foot traffic, sketch pads and conversations in places where visitors and residents will see the city at street level. For the River Arts District, it means another high-visibility moment as artists document a neighborhood still rebuilding its identity, one drawing at a time.