Artist Jennifer Maravillas to present lecture of cartographic art projects

UofL Hite Art Institute and AIGA Louisville, the professional association for design, are hosting a lecture by Brooklyn-based visual artist and illustrator Jennifer Maravillas Nov. 12, at University of Louisville’s Schneider Hall Gallery. Maravillas works with cartography to create portraits of cities and land in media ranging from found paper to watercolor.

Recently, she completed 71 Square Miles: a map of Brooklyn, which is compiled from trash she collected while walking each block of the New York borough to represent the cultures and voices of the community. The large, colorful map took three years to complete and earned her national critical acclaim and media attention. Her goal, she said, is to find universalities and connections across the many communities of New York City. “Land and the structures we build house our experiences, memories and voices,” she said. “Tension and segregation between people limits access to collective histories, narrowing our vernacular and understanding of one another. Finding ways to mindfully preserve cultural diversity in New York City is the key to building a global city that retains and presents the rich lives of its citizens to future inhabitants.” Maravillas graduated from the University of Louisville with an undergraduate degree in communication art & design and she has a masters degree from Virginia Commonwealth University where she studied anthropology, painting, graphic design and mass communication. The lecture is 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m., with a 6 p.m. social hour in room 104 of Schneider Hall Gallery. Tickets are $5 for AIGA members, $15 non-members and $10 for students. Purchase tickets online here. For more information contact Leslie Friesen, Power Creative Designer-in-Residence at Hite Art Institute, at leslie.friesen@louisville.edu.