Maps for Tomorrow

This book was a project that came into being during the long months of the pandemic. A group of area artists, writers and designers affiliated within the College of Art and Design (CAD) worked together to produce “Maps for Tomorrow”, a publication presenting art and ideas that were developed in isolation. 

“Maps for Tomorrow” includes the work of three RIT faculty including Cecily Culver (CAD Adjunct), Sarah Kinard (CAD Adjunct), and Rebecca Aloisio (CAD Senior Lecturer). The curation and essay were provided by esteemed Buffalo Arts Writer Dana Tyrrell. Additionally, the layout and design were done by CAD Graphic Design Associate professor Nancy Bernardo. 

We are exceptionally proud of the final outcome and are excited to share this collaborative work. - Rebecca, Cecily, Sarah, Nancy

Introduction:
To work with a constellation of artists as formidable, warm, talented, tenacious, and determined as that of Rebecca Aloisio, Cecily Culver, and Sarah Kinard is to behold a unique phenomenon; it is to witness three bright stars engaged in conversation, taking shape as a constellation, drawing up maps for tomorrow.
In ecologies such as this the stars band together seeking new eyes, new perspectives.
Maps for Tomorrow came into being after my meeting and speaking with Culver over the course of previous projects, and hoping to realize an exhibit and some text for the artists. Over the course of 2020 this project shifted into a longer format analysis and close reading of the work of these artists through text. Maps for Tomorrow was achieved in the face of a pandemic, profound isolation, and an ongoing reckoning with how our bodies carry space in public. It has taught us to be flexible, to evolve, to adapt, to cultivate what we value - in ourselves and each other - amid our shared, existential darkness.
It has been my privilege to string together the work of Aloisio, Culver, and Kinard and to reconcile their light, dark, determination, softness, uncanniness, ecology, considerations of vision, and the collective human impulse to create in the face of unflagging uncertainty. Maps for Tomorrow offers the unique opportunity to put an eye to the astrolabe and gaze into the darkness of now with hope for the morning.
Dana Tyrrell
Fall 2020