Inspired by our current landscape show, New England Survey, I thought it would be interesting to place a map in the gallery and encourage folks to notate it with their own “senses of place.”

It took me a while to track down a map of New England with the region all on one side (thanks AAA!). My hunt for map pins also took a little longer than expected (thank you Bob Slate!). I stocked a wooden sketch box full of materials (thanks Pearl!) and cut up pieces of vellum upon which to write. After ironing the map flat, I hung it up in the gallery and waited…

Whenever I come up with such ideas, I never know if visitors will go along. Well, I am happy to report that they did! After the opening, we had about 25 notes/places and as of yesterday, I counted over 125! As you can see in these installation shots, folks have shared a wide variety of places and ideas. Interestingly, a vast majority of them are along the New England coast, Cape Cod, or in Maine.

I have noted a few of my favorites below, but you can also check out others on the PRC Flickr page. (In our flickr group we’ve had an active discussion on what makes New England, New England.) I’d love to hear more. What spaces and places in New England are you moved by and why? Share them below, or come to the PRC and add to the collective notion of our region before the show’s last day, May 11th!

~ When I was 9, I was mobbed and pinched by a flock of geese. It was the first time I saw the ocean - Chatham Beach, MA
~ Jack’s Old Cottage - Craigsville Beach, MA
~ I fell in love, and felt home - Ayer, MA
~ Where I lived my whole life - Hudson, NH
~ Every October, our family gathers in this isolated cottage. Each morning I’d wake to the breathtaking harbor view - East Boothbay, ME
~ I realized that there is always a back road leading home - Near the border of MA & NY