Shepherd University faculty members Kristy Cherry, Sonya Evanisko, Robert Farmer and Karen Gergely are part of a traveling “Sketchbook Project” hosted by the Art House in Brooklyn, N.Y. The artists are charged with filling a blank sketchbook with their personal drawings, paintings, collages and writings and shipping them off to the Brooklyn Gallery where the sketchbooks will be bar-coded and exhibited in an exhibition that includes artists from 94 countries around the world.

During the exhibition, barcode scanners will be utilized by viewers to scan the sketchbook they want to review and information will be sent to the artist so they can track how many viewers interacted with their work. Artists can stay connected with where their sketchbook travels through a personalized website which allows artists access to their sketchbook’s activity.

Cherry, Evanisko, Farmer and Gergely are all studio artists and professors of contemporary art at Shepherd.

The “Sketchbook Project,” which includes the highly personal work of thousands of artists worldwide, will form an exhibition starting in March that will travel across the nation.

Although the artists spend weeks filling the pages of their personal sketchbooks with often times elaborate drawings and paintings, the work becomes the property of the Art House and remains in the public collection of the Brooklyn Art Library.

The Art House is recognized for creating massive international art projects that aim to bring thousands of artists’ work together. Most of the exhibitions take place at the gallery in Brooklyn, but in an effort to provide more people the opportunity to view the artwork, select projects travel to guest galleries around the country. Last year’s project was covered by CNN news to highlight how a simple sketchbook and the act of making art can become a worldwide project.