Jean drew this map on the envelope that delivered it, tracing the route she imagined it was about to travel. Interstate 80 runs the full width of the paper, picking up labels for states along the way, with a small skyline and a few lake ripples standing in for Chicago. At the eastern end, the […]
This map depicts a stretch of suburban commercial landscape in Chandler, Arizona with strip malls, big box stores, parking lots, gas stations, and fast food restaurants rendered in precise detail. Every element is accounted for: the drive-through, parking lot stripes, even turning lanes. Walmart, Fry’s, IKEA, Ross, Staples, In-N-Out, Chevron, Starbucks, and a dozen other […]
In April 2010, the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano sent an ash cloud across northern Europe, closing airspace and stranding millions of travelers. This map documents one person’s response: an overland drive from Uppsala to Utrecht, through Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands, at a time when flying was not an option. The route south is […]
Gregory’s annotated map documents a multi-day hike along the extended Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in October 1986. Campsites, passes, and Inca ruins are noted alongside candid dispatches from the trail — altitude sickness, a companion nicknamed Flounder getting lost, and a drawing session at the ruins of Winay Wana cut short by a caretaker’s […]
This drawing documents the constellations in the northern hemisphere as Harriet would have seen them in October 2000. The drawing was featured in our exhibition, Nowhere, at Arcadia University. Richard Torchia, the gallery director at the time, did a bit of research into celestial maps, and provided the following text to accompany its display. The […]
Grzegorz, an amateur cartographer from Szczecin, Poland, sent this collection of fictional maps depicting imagined islands and continents, each rendered with the care and detail of a serious world-builder. His maps feature invented place names such as Ocean of Dreams [Ocean Snu], Blue Mountains [Niebieskie Góry], and Dragon Mountains [Góry Smoków].
Rachel sent this map she drew of the cafes in the Hackney area of London. Each cafe is represented as a fried egg, perfect for breakfast. We assume the collection of birds towards the center represents the busier area of the neighborhood. 🍳
Matias mapped the hidden infrastructure of a small section of Rosario, Argentina — the pipes, fixtures, and systems that quietly sustain everyday life. Rendered in a dense grid of numbers, symbols, and color-coded routes, the map traces what he calls “a network that gives us comfort and happiness,” threading together hot and cold water supplies, […]
Walt, an artist who has spent most of his life in Oklahoma, made this collage map of Tulsa as a meditation on place and belonging. Coins adhered to the surface nod to oil money, blue glass tiles suggest the Arkansas River, and a triangle marked “STAY” captures the central tension Walt describes: an ongoing inner […]
David mapped his entire personal fanverse, the sprawling imaginative universe built from a lifetime of science fiction, fantasy, and pop culture. The map organizes his fandoms spatially: star systems for Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars, and Star Trek; a “Galaxy of Limbo” for He-Man, Thundercats, and Transformers; and a world map dotted with MacGyver, LOST, and […]
Amanda drew this map as adult while reminiscing about her childhood home that she lived in from 1982-85. The detailed legend in the upper left corner explains the symbolic representations throughout the drawing and reveals that certain elements, such as the “pool” & “grill,” were likely imagined through play.
This map was created by Her Majesty of Maps to help her mother find Holy Frijoles, a favorite Mexican restaurant in Baltimore, Maryland.