Collaborative sketching panorama by Urban Sketchers Portsmouth documenting the architecture and history of Albert Road in Southsea, part of the Portsmouth100 celebrations.
Urban Sketchers Portsmouth are bringing a sketched panorama of Albert Road to Southsea Library on Wednesday 6 January. It's part of the city's Portsmouth100 celebrations, and the whole thing comes from the local chapter of the global Urban Sketchers organisation.
The project is exactly what it sounds like: the group set out to document the full length of Albert Road in Southsea, one of Portsmouth's most vibrant and historically layered streets, through a continuous panorama sketched collaboratively by its members. They worked across three dedicated sketching sessions, capturing both sides of the road and more than 200 buildings. You'll see Victorian façades alongside more modern venues, and the sketches don't stop at what's still there. They've included the ghosts of shops and fronts that have disappeared or transformed over the decades, like the former Gaiety Cinema, which is now a Co-Op supermarket.
What makes it more than just a visual record is the human side. Some of the artwork is paired with a short story, an anecdote or a historical note gathered from traders, residents and passers-by. It turns the exhibition into a collective visual testimony of the street's architectural, cultural and social history, rather than just a set of drawings. If you've spent any time on Albert Road, you'll recognise the mix of old and new that defines it.
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It's a local project about a local street, so it's well worth a look if you're around Southsea in early January. The exhibition opens at Southsea Library on 6 January, as part of the Portsmouth100 celebrations.
