Wednesday, January 26, 2011

"The Laramie Atlas Project" update on Jan. 31 at UW

Rebecca Solnit, author, cultural historian and activist, will discuss her progress on a unique atlas of Laramie at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 31 at the University of Wyoming Art Museum, located in the Centennial Complex.

"The Laramie Atlas Project: Work-in-Progress," has been a month-long effort that has created an atlas of Laramie and the surrounding region. The Centennial Complex is located at 2111Willet Drive.

"Rebecca Solnit believes maps and atlases can lead us toward a new way of understanding the places we live in," says Alyson Hagy, an MFA program in Creative Writing faculty member. "The sense of place is strong in Wyoming. Solnit's Laramie Atlas Project will invite students to make new maps -- some of them traditional, some of them innovative and even eccentric -- of the region to chronicle its nature and ties to the larger world."

As Eminent Writer in Residence in the MFA Creative Writing Program, Solnit currently is visiting UW classes across campus and consulting with MFA students on their writing during her residency.

Her visit is co-sponsored by the Albany County Public Library Foundation, the UW Art Museum, The Helga Otto Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources and the Social Justice Research Center.

The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.