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Cold War, Warm Planet: To accompany an essay by Kathryn Flagg. Illustration by Kelsey Giroux, graphic production by Shizue Seigel, cartography by Ben Pease. -
Ghosts and Cottonwoods: To accompany an essay by Tasha LeClair. Art and cartography by Shizue Seigel. -
Many Homes: Concept by Kristen Elizabeth Gunther. Photography by Kristen Gunther and Shizue Seigel, cartography and design by Shizue Seigel. -
Racks and Rifles: To accompany “A Scavenger Hunt,” an essay by Kristen Elizabeth Gunther. Design by Shizue Seigel. -
Wild Wild East: To accompany an essay by LuLing Osofsky, design by Pauiius Staniunas, cartography by Shizue Seigel.
What is Laramie? This winter, creative writing graduate students at the University of Wyoming teamed with Infinite City: A San Francisco Atlas author Rebecca Solnit and cartographers Ben Pease and Shizue Seigel to answer that question. The series of maps and essays that resulted provide a nuanced portrait of place — one that pairs missile silos with beetle kill, ghosts with cottonwoods, the wild West with its longstanding Asian influences. Beneath that, says the project’s lead professor Alyson Hagy, lies a deepened sense of community that developed through an ever-widening net of collaboration, which drew in locals, artists, and other university departments and public institutions. Any community could undertake such an effort to endlessly re-imagine itself, Hagy adds: When people see Laramie: A Gem City Atlas — on display at the UW Art Museum through June 18 — “their first response is, ‘I would map this,’ or ‘I would map that.’ “
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline A Gem City Atlas: Novel maps of Laramie, Wyoming.
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