Mapstories and more at AASHE

Detail from Mapstories, 2011

I'll be displaying Mapstories at the Minneapolis Convention Center Sunday-Tuesday, October 25-27 as part of the expo hall art exhibits for the Association for the Advancement for Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) annual conference this week.

Mapstories, 2011,  is a large, interactive, multimedia artist’s book. Viewers/participants explore the layers to reveal images of places where hidden paths of water connect a school on the map with the Mississippi River – the source and destination of the water that flows through the students’ classroom sink. The artwork was part of a participatory art-led environmental education project called Downstream/Upstream using a curriculum model developed by the artist called Earth Systems Journey. The map was installed at the students’ school in 2011 and grew during the project to include photographs taken by children, ages 4-6, while on their water journey.

I'll also be speaking about art and art-led environmental projects at AASHE. Monday, I co-present River Journey with other team members and talk about "Mapping Campus Connections:  Using GIS Story Maps as Part of Place-based, Art-led, Environmental Education." On Tuesday, I co-present with curator/moderator, Roslye Ultan and three other artists on "Art as Vital Agent in the Spiral of Sustainable Change."