2026 Summit Recap and Thank You!

Thank you to everyone who took part in the Ohio Regional Urban Sketchers 2026 Summit, held Aug. 7-9 in Cleveland!

Our fifth Summit kicked off late Friday afternoon with a sketch outing at North Coast Harbor. The next morning nearly 90 participants met at the Cleveland Institute of Art (CIA) before going to their workshop. After lunch and a keynote speech by Jenny Jing Zhang, each participant chose a bookbinding workshop at CIA or an instructor-led sketch walk for their afternoon activity. Sketch walk groups stopped at various locations throughout University Circle and Little Italy, including Cleveland Botanical Garden, the Peter B. Lewis Building, and Lakeview Cemetery. 

The Summit concluded on Sunday with a mid-morning sketch outing on the grounds of the Cleveland Museum of Art. This outing also included four demos: two featured Caran d’Ache and Winsor & Newton art supplies, and three showed general sketching techniques.

A good time was had by all, and we couldn’t have done it without all of you. In addition to Ohio, we welcomed participants from Illinois, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas.

We look forward to announcing the next Summit location and seeing you in 2027!

Many thanks again to our workshop instructors, keynote speaker, volunteers, the CIA events management team, and sponsors:

Instructors
Ana Lucia Araya       Nancy Lick          

Brent Eligado           Jeff Suntala     

Jeff Evans                Jenny Jing Zhang 

John Hancock

Keynote Speaker            

Jenny Jing Zhang

Demos
Kendra Brown           Jeff Suntala

John Hancock           Jenny Jing Zhang

Nancy Lick  

Volunteers
Rebekah Eligado (photography)
Adrian Slattery

Special Thanks
Jordan Goens, CIA Event Manager

Sponsors

Cleveland Institute of Art            Dixon Ticonderoga          Quarto
Design Interface Inc.                  Etchr LAB                        Silver Lock Designs
Blick                                           Legion Paper                   Stillman & Birn
Caran d'Ache                             Luchetti                            Roman Szmaal
Chartpak                                    OLO                                 Winsor & Newton
Cretacolor                                  Pilot/Enso
                                                   Lettering Pens

The Ohio Regional Urban Sketchers Summit Organizers 

Ana Lucia Araya (1); Carla Blackman (2); Matt Blair (3); Kendra Brown (4); 
Janet Dodrill (5); Brent Eligado (6); Kenny Moore (7); Jeff Suntala (8); Christina Wald (9); and Jordan Goens. Not pictured: Jean Robbins 

Photos credits: Top right (courtesy of Matt Blair); middle left and right (Rebekah Eligado); bottom (courtesy of Janet Dodrill)