TAKING A PEN FOR A WALK

in Chattanooga

a community drawing contest

To celebrate Preserve Chattanooga’s 50th anniversary, we are excited to announce a summer drawing contest inspired by Ray Gindroz’s book Taking a Pen for a Walk: Discovering Towns and Cities Through Drawing.

The Bauhaus artist Paul Klee once wrote “Drawing is taking a pen for a walk”, to which Ray Gindroz added, “to see what it discovers along the way.”. Chattanooga has a rich architectural heritage to discover. Our “Taking a Pen for a Walk in Chattanooga” contest is an fun way to do so.

About the Contest

  • The Taking a Pen for a Walk in Chattanooga drawing contest is open to both youths (14 to18 years old) and adults (19 +). The rules are simple, using Ray Gindroz’s sketches as a reference, look for ways to capture an important piece of Chattanooga’s architectural heritage using pen and paper. However, the sketch is just the start. A brief description of what you have sketched must accompany the drawing submitted. What can you tell us about your inspiration? What are we seeing? Draw our attention to things that often go unnoticed.

    Be creative. You may choose to sketch a streetscape, a prominent building façade, or even map out a walk with significant architectural details illustrated. What can you tell us about the evolution of a building or a neighborhood?

    There is no cost to enter the contest. Submittals are due by 5 pm on Monday, September 1, 2025.

  • Winners will be announced during the Chattanooga Preservation Awards on September 18, 2025. This special event will feature Donovan Rypkema as the keynote speaker and will take place in the historic Read House Silver Ballroom.

    Youth Prizes:

    First Place Winner
    HIFORNY 126 PCS Drawing Kit + Ray Gindroz’s book “Taking a Pen for a Walk”

    Honorable Mention
    HIFORNY 70 Pcs Drawing Set Sketching Kit

    Adult Prizes:

    First Place Winner
    HIFORNY 126 PCS Drawing Kit + Ray Gindroz’s book “Taking a Pen for a Walk”

    Honorable Mention
    HIFORNY 70 Pcs Drawing Set

  • Ray Gindroz is a co-founder and Principal Emeritus of Urban Design Associates. He pioneered the use of community engagement in planning processes and led the revival of pattern books as a means of implementing urbanism. Ray taught urban design at Yale, Carnegie Mellon, and Hampton Universities. He was a Senior Fellow of the Prince’s Foundation in London, Chairman of the Board of the Congress for the New Urbanism, The Seaside Institute, and the National AIA Committee on Design, as well as a member of several boards including the Institute for Classical Art and Architecture. He was the principal author of The Urban Design Handbook, The Architectural Pattern Book, The Place of Dwelling, and Taking a Pen for a Walk.