Expressions  of  Place:    an  interdisciplinary,  interactive  community  event  series   Diana K. B. Hoover Professor of Graphic Design Department of Art & Design, College of Fine Arts & Communication University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Stevens Point, WI, USA North American Cartographic & Information Society Conference (NACIS) Colorado Springs, CO, U.S.A. October 2016

 ABSTRACT In the heart of Wisconsin, where the Menominee people have lived for many thousands of years, in a small city that houses a medium-sized liberal arts university, some generous and visionary individuals, organizations, and corporations join forces to celebrate culture and reinvigorate community. Fueled by entrepreneurial spirit and passion for the arts, many of the creative collaborations bring together individuals representing diverse perspectives. One of these undertakings is the upcoming event series, ‘Expressions of Place’ sponsored by the College of Fine Arts and Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. During this talk I will present the genesis for this project, the variety of arts and geography mash-ups in the lineup, some obstacles encountered as well as discoveries made while organizing this compendium on mapping, sensing, living and expressing ‘Place’.

. . .I find myself humbled and I am energized by the extraordinary talks from people who are

championing mapmaking as a methodology and a cornerstone of pedagogy through

experimentation, collaboration, embrace of complexity and of failure as a path of true learning.

This talk falls at the end of the NACIS 2016 conference and it is about the future. To pick up on

one of Kirk Goldsberry’s, threads that, ‘there are no tidy borderlines or boundaries in

cartography’ and his call to action to extend the reach of mapmakers everywhere, I am interested

in finding ways to add my expertise in graphic design to the effort of expanding how we work

together to map stuff. . .

Introduction:

At my first NACIS conference last year in Minneapolis, I presented about artists who use maps in

their work and I was one of the lucky ones to participate in Matt Dooley’s Gunpowder workshop.

Not just the explosives sparked my imagination, though that was a blast, but also by the

profound creativity, passion and inclusiveness of the people that I met in this organization. This

talk is about an interdisciplinary colloquium I am facilitating on the ideas of place and mapping

that is a direct result of my NACIS experiences last year. I will present some specific inspirations

for the project, different events that are planned and some thoughts on the interdisciplinary

nature of cartography as a catalyst for collaboration.

Dedication:

For most of us the place we live both —is, and is not— our home. How do we represent ideas of

location, dislocation, borders, migration and home?

Where do we locate the borders of cultural awareness and ownership on the land?

Whose perspectives are privileged on a map?

How do celebrate those untidy borderlines between disciplines, cultures, and .com and .edu?

What can be gained by sharing divergent interpretations of place?

The images onscreen are of the iconic mural on my campus —a map in its own right— designed

and created by the late Dick Schneider, who taught ceramics for over 50 years. Dick worked to

incorporate technology, art and design as well as principles of social equality among the

symbolic forms he used in this 50ft x 150ft mural. He was a man who felt strongly about place and

labored to represent the sense of place in a multicultural framework, especially acknowledging

the native peoples who are of the area.

Prologue: A good place to Live

In the heart of this continent, the Menominee people have lived for many thousands of years, in a

region they call Wēskōhsek, —‘a good place to live’. There is, in Wēskōhsek, a place called

Pasīpahkīhnen — roughly translated into English means, ‘it juts out as land, or point of land’. 1

In 1836, the Menominee signed what is referred to as the Treaty of the Cedars, ceding huge

tracts of their homeland territories to the United States government. These lands were located

along and around multiple rivers in central and eastern Wisconsin. 2 Years after the 1836 treaty, a

man named George Stevens who habitually used this area to stop and stow his belongings on his

quests to develop lumbering opportunities, became its English namesake. Stevens Point is

known as ‘The Gateway to the Pineries’ because of the water routes he helped make accessible

for logging.

Forest management methods used by Europeans were and are much different than those of the

native tribes. As Patty Loew notes in her Indian Nations of Wisconsin, “The history and identity of

the Menominee people is rooted in the white pines and sugar maples of the western Great

Lakes. The forest sustained the tribe before Europeans arrived on the continent, and to this day

the forest continues to provide cultural and economic sustenance to the Menominee.” Loew

further states that, “The Menominee Forest, which has become a laboratory for sustainable

forestry is considered one of the most beautiful and healthy forests on earth.” 4

This is the place where I now live, defined by the Wisconsin River and the point of land that juts

into it. I have lived here for only 15 years. Though it happens that this is the longest time I have

personally stayed in any one place, my relatives and ancestors are not from here. I have kayaked

the rivers and ridden the bike trails and walked in the green spaces, but I know this place chiefly

from my frame of reference in academia and through the stories of others.

Inspirations:

My primary motivations for undertaking this project include an ongoing drive to study the

significance of place and a number of native and non-native individuals who embody place in

powerful ways. I was particularly moved by the following five people to bring this idea into reality.

Mike Hoffman is Menominee and Ottawa descendant and a fluent speaker and teacher of the

Menominee language. He is the cultural consultant and adviser for the Menominee Clans Story

on permanent display at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. After decades of painstaking

development Mike produced the Menominee Place Names Map of Wisconsin with cartographers

at the university. The web site for the interactive map is here:

https://decolonialatlas.wordpress.com/2015/01/12/menominee-place-names-map/

Jessie Conaway is an activist and cartographer who during the map gallery at NACIS 2015

exhibited the large vinyl floor map from her work on the Bad River Water&Culture Maps Project.

She has an Environment and Resources Ph.D. with a minor in Cartography/GIS from the Nelson

Institute in Madison and has been working with the native tribes of the western Great Lakes for

several decades to promote wise and sustainable practices and policies for our natural resources.

Karen Ann Hoffman is a celebrated Oneida artist who’s exceptional Iroquois Raised Beadwork is

in the collection of the Smithsonian Museum. She is a prolific artist, enthusiastic teacher and

collaborator and a traditional storyteller. Karen has recently curated the regional exhibition, ‘In

Our Midst —Wisconsin’s Contemporary Native American Art’. The show features work by some

of Wisconsin’s most notable Native American Artists. Karen has also acted as intermediary

between the community and the campus and between the native and non-native participants in

this project.

Matt Groshek is a one of my colleague teaching Graphic Design at UW-Stevens Point and serves

as the Curator of Exhibits at our Museum of Natural History. He has been a Fellow at the

Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service directing the People of Rural Wisconsin project.

Matt has lived and taught in a number of places in the Midwest and recently moved back to live

on his family farm in Rudolf, Wisconsin.

Finally, Rhonda Sprague, the interim dean of the College of Fine Arts & Communication, was the

lynchpin in this whole thing, as she was the person who, after hearing about the fabulous

experiences I had in Minneapolis, planted the idea that would become the colloquium. Also, the

project funding is coming mainly from the college.

Project & Process:

At the start of the planning stage, I cast a wide net for interested faculty and staff from all over

campus and in the greater community. An email invitation went out to likely collaborators from

my own college in art, art history, arts management, dance, graphic design, music, storytelling,

theatre, video and film. In the other colleges and units I reached out to colleagues in cultural

anthropology, english, ethno botany, forestry, geography, geology, interior architecture and

sociology as well as our Museum of Natural History, our Native American Center and our Library.

From the greater community I contacted local artists, teachers and historians and our major arts

organization.

The initial planning meeting was a resounding success, not because everyone who had been

invited came, but because of the unique mix of voices and perspectives coming together. Natural

affiliations were discovered as we discussed our own work and the topic of place from many

viewpoints. This coming together was inspiring and people dispersed to continue building on

thematic threads. Notes from this gathering were distributed to provide continuity prior to the

next meeting. At the second meeting deeper conversations took place, collaborative concepts

for events were firmed up and the title for the colloquium was decided upon by consensus. The

work continues.

Some insights gained from the process: Developing the budget, the individual events and the

overall marketing requires a deft balancing act between open dialogue and firm decisions. It’s

experientially exciting to facilitate cross-pollination in big group meetings, but far more effective

to manage nitty-gritty work in smaller groups. Empowering individuals to create and execute.

Finally, delegate whenever feasible.

Scheduled Events:

The colloquium will unfold over a three-month period beginning in February. In total there will be

a dozen different events in this unique collaborative series.

Honoring the People—An opening event for ‘Expressions of Place’ will honor the longest

surviving residents of this place, the Menominee, as well as the other indigenous peoples in

Wisconsin. Special guests will be Mike and Karen Hoffman who will share their stories and

perspectives of place, home and land. Traditional storytelling needs to be conducted when the

earth is still frozen, so this event will happen in February.

Visual Art/Communication—An invitational exhibition featuring artists who use maps or mapping

in their work will be on view in the Noel Fine Arts Center. The art exhibition is serving as the

centerpiece for the colloquium and will provide a venue for receptions, artist talks and

presentations during the run of the show. The curatorial team of Matt Groshek and Leigh Wilcox,

our gallery director, are extending the exhibit beyond the gallery walls into several satellite

spaces to incorporate other disciplines and areas and emphasize a sense of place on campus.

Travel—Kathe Julin from Interior Architecture and Liz Fakasiz from the Division of Communication

are facilitating an exhibition of artwork by faculty produced while traveling or as a result of travels.

A panel discussion on transformation through visiting other places will happen in conjunction.

Dance—Michael Estanich will give a dance performance about migration, place and identity. The dance, a reprise of a work he choreographed in graduate school, will be performed in the Noel Fine Arts Center. Michael will give an artist talk after the performance.

Labyrinths—An exploration of built environments will include a presentation on transformational spaces and feature a Labyrinth Walk. Katja Marquardt of Interior Architecture who is a trained labyrinth facilitator, designer and builder will give the presentation.

Place making—Our regional arts organization, CREATE Portage County, is deeply invested in

Place making and creative community building opportunities. Greg Wright, the executive

director, will be facilitating a forum on place making. Networking and bridging the ‘town-gown’

divide are goals.

Video—Alex Ingersoll of the Division of Communication is hosting a Microcinema screening

entitled, ‘Encounters With Place’. The screening is taking place downtown in CRAETE Portage

County’s IDEA Center. A talkback is planned.

Community/Cultural Mapping—Tori Jennings of Sociology and Doug Miskowiak and Christine

Koeller of Geography & Geology will participate in a panel discussion on community mapping

projects. Tori has been working on a Hmong Walking and Activity Map and is the author of the

video project, the Middle Way. Doug Miskowiak has been involved in using story maps as

community building tools in Wisconsin. Christine will present about her work with students and

crowdsourcing information for mapping in our Schmeekle Nature Reserve.

Student Involvement—Student research presentations from an interdisciplinary course I will be

team-teaching with Keith Rice will be a part of the aforementioned event. Keith is the director of

the GIS center at UW-Stevens Point and he is a former president of NACIS. The course titled,

Representations of Place, will be cross-listed in our respective departments so students from Art

& Design and Geography & Geology will be working together to create story maps about aspects

of the place we live. The student projects will be presented at the end of the class and during an

event in the colloquium.

Indigenous Mapping—Near the end of the colloquium a panel presentation on Indigenous

Mapping is planned. Featured speakers will include Ray Reser, a paleo-archeologist and the

director of the UW-Stevens Point Museum of Natural History, who will talk on his years in

Australia working with the tribal elders to protect sacred land. Jessie Conaway and tribal elders

from the Bad River Ojibway reservation will discuss their work using maps to aid efforts on

education about the land. Mike Hoffman will lead a presentation on the Menominee Clans Story

and his work on the Menominee Place names Map of Wisconsin.

Conclusion:

We are all mapmakers and problem solvers, interested in collaborative engagement. The

combination of unique viewpoints and diverse disciplines makes for a dynamic opportunity to

grow through synthesis.

Planning for the colloquium continues and the results will be forthcoming. It is my fervent hope

that this example can become a conduit for additional creative collaborations and spark more

conversations about mapping, ‘home’ and connection to the land.

 

References      

1. Hoffman,  Mike.  The  Menominee  Clans  Story,  UW-­‐Stevens  Point  Library,  Board  of  Regents  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin.  Website  text  by  Dr.  David  Wrone.  Website  drawings  and  photographs  by  Richard  J.  Frechette.  URL:  http://www4.uwsp.edu/museum/menomineeclans/places/  

   

2. Indian  Affairs:  Laws  And  Treaties,  Vol.  II,  Treaties,  Compiled  and  edited  by  Charles  J.  Kappler,  Washington  :  Government  Printing  Office,  1904.  Produced  by  the  Oklahoma  State  University  Library  URL:  http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/    

3. Loew,  Patty,  Indian  Nations  of  Wisconsin:  Histories  of  Endurance  and  Renewal,  Wisconsin  Historical  Society  Press,  2001,  ppg.  24,  38-­‐9.    

4. Wisconsin  Historical  Society,  ‘Stevens  Point,  Wisconsin–  A  Brief  History’,  [Source:  WHS  Library-­‐Archives  Staff,  2009];  URL:  http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Content.aspx?dsNav=N:42949638284294963805&dsRecordDetails=R:CS2382    

My contacts with thoughtful people of many nations and the creative individuals