Aletha Spang, GIS Specialist in the Department of Geography, recently presented research on creative mapping at the a2ru conference in Madison, Wisconsin with Thien-Kim Bui, a PhD candidate at Portland State University and Senior Fellow at the National Policy Consensus Center. a2ru, a partnership of colleges and universities, focuses on integrating the arts into research, curricula, and other programming.
The panel, “Mapping Beyond Boundaries: Creative Geographies as Tools for Interdisciplinary Research and Teaching”, highlighted how creative mapping practices can complement traditional quantitative methods in research, education, and community engagement.
Spang presented ongoing research that integrates flood mapping with textile arts, a collaborative project with the Rural Rivers team (Dr. Charis Boke from Anthropology and Dr. Sarah Kelly from the Irving Institute), supported by the Hopkins Center 2024 Arts Integration Grant.
Bui presented research on collage as a pedagogical method for critical engagement with maps as part of COLLAGE (Collaborative Learning and Geographic Experimentations), an initiative to develop creative placemaking practices and human ecology mapping with community groups. Following a public workshop at Portland State University, Bui explores how collage allows participants to subvert conventions, reconfigure narratives, and share new insights of place.
Bui and Spang provided participants hands-on experience with creative mapping methods, providing maps, decorative paper, and fabric for participants to collage into a representation of the favorite place they have lived. See the following images for the collage process and map examples.
