FAQ's Flash Sketch Mob

Step One: SAFETY FIRST

Please be careful proceeding to and from your assignment. Obey all traffic laws: do not stand or sit in the middle of streets. Do not jay walk, Please do not lean on any vehicles. Please do not block the pedestrian side or crosswalks.

Step Two: YOUR SKETCH ASSIGNMENT

Your sketch location is included in your packet. You have from your registration time until end time to complete your artwork. The orientation of your artwork should be horizontal even if your picture reference is vertical.

Step Three: INCLUDING YOUR WORK

At 3:00pm please make your way to the Edward Hopper House Museum. You will be asked to hold your artwork so that we can connect the artist with the artwork in the first photo (you may obstruct your face if you do not want to be photographed). After which, your art will be photographed alone and immediately returned to you.

You retain all rights to your artwork. Still, to participate in this event, you must be willing to allow your art-work to be photographed and used to promote Edward Hopper House, any future "Flash Sketch Mob(TM)" events, and Nyack locales.

FAQ's

What is a "Flash Sketch Mob"?

The first Flash Sketch Mob(TM)'s in Nyack were organized in 2012, and 2015 by Bill Batson, with help from Marisol Diaz, and Ben Falchuk.

A "Flash Sketch Mob(TM)" is a collaborative public art event that helps build community through culture and aesthetics by gathering diverse creative people together to ‘on-the-spot’ create a hand-made ‘illustrated’ version of a "street view" map.

Art Supplies

Am I going to be provided with any art supplies or tools?

(No.) Part of the joy in the results we yield is based on the diversity and range of mediums, that creative people like you bring to the streetscape interpretation.

What art materials do I bring?

You may bring any art-making materials that suit you.

What if my preferred medium is painting not sketching? Or if I am a sculptor, or a writer or a musician? Or all the above? Or a digital artist? Can I still participate?

WE want what ever you prefer to work in -bring it- make it! Part of the joy in the results we yield is based on the diversity and range of mediums, that creative people like you bring to the streetscape interpretation.

Will there he anyone available to give me artistic guidance? Or support, teach, or help stretch my canvas?

(No.) There is an extraordinary educational component to this experience in just being personally and individually mindful of place and creative "making." We will not have any technical support or instruction on hand. So know your material and come prepared.

Are there any size restraints?

The work must be able to be photographed. So if we can step back far enough to photograph it, and/or get close enough to macro shoot it (we know there are some ‘grain-of-rice’ artists out there) - we can include it!

Creature Comforts

What if it rains?

A Flash Sketch Mob is a rain or shine event.

Will I be provided with lunch, water, seating, rulers, erasers etc..

(No.) So pack your snacks, but know Nyack is a wonderful, WALKABLE community.

Keeping and Sharing

If this a community event, do I have to work with any one else?

(No.) You do not need to "work with" anyone else, but by participating in this project we are hoping you ‘connect’ both literally and metaphorically with other ‘creatives’ and at the very least accept that your piece is a singular part of what will become a larger streetscape created collaboratively with others.

Do I have to take photographs of my own work?

(No.) You do not need to photograph your own work. In fact, an integral part of the end of the project includes photographing the work FOR YOU!

Do I keep my work?

(Yes.) Your work is photographed on the spot at the end of the event, and you retain the ownership rights to your work and will be credited accordingly in presentations and publications. Still, to participate in this event, you must be willing to allow your artwork to be photographed and used to promote Flash Sketch Mob and Nyack locales.

I have registered and paid, unfortunately I cannot attend - can I get a refund?

(No.) Please consider that your registration payment as a donation to Edward Hopper House Museum, which helps support the preservation of Hopper's family home, and enduring artistic legacy.

TIMING

Registration took me past the beginning time, I stopped to go buy a snack/lunch and also got caught up talking to some community members before I knew it, I only had an hour of the three-hour allotted time to work! So can I work beyond the end time and just send you a photo of the work later?

(No.) To do the work outside of the set parameters defies the philosophy or a Flash Sketch Mob. If you have lost track of time we will all have to make do, with what you have accomplished by the end of the time period. The work must be photographed by Edward Hopper House Museum staff for our records at the designated time whether you think it is "finished" or "unfinished."

I am speedy and I zipped through my assignment, can I end early? (Where do I bring my artwork, early, to get photographed?)

You may work the whole time or, finish up before your allotted time ends. In either case, YOU MUST SUBMIT your artwork for photography at Edward Hopper House Museum before you leave the event.

When do I get my streetscape assignment?

At Check-In on the day-of, you will receive a location which indicates YOUR SPECIFIC streetscape assignment, instructions for the day's schedule, fun tidbits of info, above and beyond challenges, and a photo reference of your streetscape assignment.

Can I submit work that I have already done at a previous time, it’s a Nyack landscape scene and matches my streetscape quite well?

(No.) To create artwork outside of the set parameters defies the philosophy of a Flash Sketch Mob. No other work may be substituted in place of the day’s experience.

Location Assignments

Can I have my assignment in advance? And can I choose my assignment?

(No.) Out of respect to all participants, it would not be fair to allow users to choose their assigned locations or to pre-assign based on preference. Hence assignments are made on a first come, first service registration basis aligned with the sequence of the street addresses in order.

What if my assignment is of a street crossing or an empty lot or a vacant business?

We see beauty in everything in our physical world and hope you do, too! Make the best of the streetscape you have been assigned and employ your technique and vision in helping the rest
of the world see the beauty in that space.

Can I trade assignments?

(No.) It is a logistical challenge aligning participants with their streetscape assignments and trading can cause serious havoc - which may result in artists NOT being credited for the correct work.