Photos, snippets of newspapers and magazines, paint, charcoal, text and collages are just some of the creative media being implemented into the Druid City Arts Festival Sketchbook Project. Blank sketchbooks, just waiting to be filled with exciting and beautiful pieces of art were distributed all over campus to faculty, staff and students about two months ago, and will finally make their public debut at the festival on March 25-26. “They were told to fill the sketchbook with whatever they want,” said Alyssa Dinberg, a senior studying arts administration in New College who helped coordinate the project. “This can range from notes taken in class to a full-on scrapbook of found objects. As a lover and artist of visual verbal journals myself, I immediately connected with this project.” Many of the artists have also been creating sketchbooks in conjunction with The Strive for Five Campaign. It is part of UA Health Promotion and Wellness, in which participants work to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables per day, drink five cups of water per day, exercise five days per week, maintain or lose five to ten pounds, and reflect or think creatively for five minutes every day. The Sketchbook Project has fit into the last category for many, who are using their sketchbooks to draw, create collages or write poetry. Sketchbook will have its own area at the festival and be considered as one of the artists. “The sketchbook project will be set up at the festival at a table near the artists selling their work,” Dinberg said. “We will have signage to direct people to that table. We want the people viewing the work to feel relaxed, not rushed to look through the sketchbooks. They are pieces of art meant for attention, and that’s what they deserve.” The idea for the UA Sketchbook Project was inspired by a huge, international project which is a part of Art House Co-op, who distributes the same Moleskine brand sketchbook to every participant. At the end of the project, participants send in their sketchbooks to be featured online, in their tour and in The Brooklyn Art Library. With more than 28,000 artists from 94 countries participating in its 2011 tour, The Sketchbook Project has spread cultural and artistic knowledge across the globe. Many campuses, including Auburn University, have gotten on board with the project. “[The international version] is more like a concert tour,” said Amanda Barnes, a senior majoring in studio art. Barnes was inspired by the international version to bring the project to the arts festival. “We just wanted to have a way for UA and community members to get a glimpse of creative things going on in Tuscaloosa,” she said. “We just hope they’ll sit and have a look, and maybe be inspired or see the work of someone they know.” Tawny Fowler, a senior studying interdisciplinary photography in New College, will be showing photography at DCAF in addition to her sketchbook. She said she has never done anything like the sketchbook project before and is excited to see how the exhibit turns out. “I personally just wanted an excuse to get myself to draw more often,” Fowler said. “I have not taken any formal drawing classes, so I’m just doodling things that come to mind when I see a blank paper. Kind of like what students draw on their notes in class. I’m just seeing what lines and shapes I can come up with and most of them are all in Precision pen ink. I have a weird obsession with ink right now. It’s in my photographs as well.” Fowler said many of her doodles are very fluid and seem to take on their own personality once she gets started. “I’m not trying to make things look real or a certain way,” she said. “It’s a sketchbook of whatever you want it to be, so why not let it be just that?” Other artists, like sophomore secondary education major Amanda Brewer, have been using the sketchbook as an outlet for emotional creativity or a way to communicate with others. “I have always doodled and created visual artwork as a form of stress relief,” Brewer said, “so when the UA Sketchbook opportunity came about I decided it was a great project for me to get on board with. Some people use the sketchbook to write to family or loved ones overseas. Overall this project has and will continue to be very reflective and heartfelt.” To take a look at all the completed sketchbooks from across campus, visit the Druid City Arts Festival display March 25-26 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Government Plaza downtown. Admission is free for all ages and there will be plenty of original art, crafts and music to enjoy.