Recap: Sketchtoberfest 2025

Our first-ever Sketchtoberfest: Lake City Sketch Crawl was a big success. About thirty artists joined us for a full morning of sketching around downtown Lake City (including several students from our Youth Art League) and most stayed for the entire event. A few sketchers had to leave early but made a point to say how much they enjoyed the parts they were able to take part in.

Facilitators Jim Riley, Benjamin Ragland, and Jerilyn Guiss led participants through three sketching stops, offering guidance and encouragement along the way. Inside the Gallery, our Curator Sheila Carr, and volunteers Lisa Eikenberry and Bob Ellis handled check-in, refreshments, and coordination throughout the morning. We also enjoyed the company of the Jacksonville Urban Sketchers, several of whom came to participate and add their own artistic flair to the day.

And the weather couldn’t have been better! The favorite stop for most participants was Lake DeSoto, where the shade, light breeze, and friendly ducks and water birds made for a pleasant and inspiring drawing spot. The final stop at the Blanche Hotel brought great architectural interest but also more traffic noise than expected—a small note we’ll keep in mind for future events.

The wrap-up back at the Gallery went smoothly with refreshments and a raffle drawing. Several winners went home with sketching supplies, painting sets, and even original artwork, including two charcoal drawings by one of our local artists, Dennis Gair. Feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive, with many already looking forward to next year’s event. We didn’t move forward with the planned front-window art display this time, since most participants worked on practice sheets rather than their new sketchbooks. We’ll revisit that idea next year to make sure everyone can take part.

We’re already planning an urban sketching workshop with Jaime Howard from USK Jax in the near future, so keep an eye on our website and calendar for updates. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of this page to get notified about upcoming happenings at the Gallery right in your inbox.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped make this event possible—our facilitators, volunteers, and the many participants who give your time and energy to support the arts in our community. Your involvement is what keeps events like this alive and growing, and we’re grateful for all you do.

Until next time, happy sketching!

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Highlights from Sketchtoberfest 2025