CIA\u27s Traveling Sketchbook Project: The Absolutely True Diaries of 180 First-Year Art Students

In a project loosely patterned after The Sketchbook Project at the Brooklyn Art Library in NYC, incoming CIA freshmen were provided identical sketchbooks this summer, and are completing them during their first month at college. The CIA Traveling Sketchbook Project was designed to support this year’s Summer Reading Program, in which the entire CIA community was invited to join incoming freshmen in reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, a novel by Sherman Alexie, with illustrations by graphic novelist, Ellen Forney. The main character uses journaling, drawing and laconic wit to create his own understanding of his life’s path. Just as the novel is formatted as Arnold Spirit, Jr.\u27s “absolutely true diary” of his thoughts and drawings about his experiences on and off the reservation, these 180 CIA freshmen are completing their own “absolutely true diaries” in response to the themes presented in the novel, and as a first-semester art student. Sketchbooks will be on view at the Cleveland Institute of Art Library throughout the month of October. Hours: M-F 8am-9pm; Sat-Sun 12-6pm CIA Access + hour