Tuesday 5 May
2nd day of printing and making
Rebecca from BYU explains her ideas for her book
When we were in the Escalante area we were shown a map of Utah from 1868 that had a big empty white circle of where Escalante was. This area had been unexplored and left blank. This part of Utah was one of the last places in the US to be explored and made known to the rest of
the world. I don’t really like that because to me Utah is the greatest place in the world. My ancestors found Utah to be a safe haven, they worked the land, my parents met here, and I did my growing up in Utah.
For my project I have been researching Utah maps. I have found a collection that spans from 1782 to present day. I want my project to illustrate the evolution of mapping Utah. At first I planned to show these maps creatively in layers or some way to chronologically show the history. But I realized that I don’t want the focus to be on the world discovering Utah. I want it to also show that Utah has always been here and why it is important to me, whether it is mapped on the world or not. So instead I have used the old maps I found as a springboard to my own exploration of what Utah has meant and does mean to me; poppies, rainbow arch, Lake Powell, the tabernacle, Mormon temples, the lamp-posts in my city, my home. I hope my project will show how long the process has been for recognition, but if not- at least I was reminded of why I love my home land.
