“Sunsets comfort us in the midst of uncertainty and through them we can all find common ground through a brief period of shared beauty.”

— Maria Amalia

Photos by Jim Escalante

Viajes del Horizonte

Handmade paper (cotton, abaca), disperse pigments, thread
5ft x 5ft
2022
Pinney Library Art Collection

This community art piece was created during my art residency at Pinney Library. During the summer of 2021, the doors at Pinney finally opened after being closed due to COVID. As we navigated how to make a piece that required social interaction, in the midst of a pandemic, we created socially distanced spaces where children made paper by hand and expressed their creativity through pulp painting. Noa and Itzayana, my residency art interns and also Latinas, collaborated with me on this socially engaged art experience informed by life journeys, sunsets, and the migration of monarch butterflies. After I assembled the piece, I invited 10 Latina immigrants to help embroider parts of it while sharing our life stories. They stitched their own journeys creating a textured surface where all paths of life were welcomed.

Anyone, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, and legal status can experience the same sunset and dream of a better future.

Read more about the Residency here.

The goal of this inaugural residency was to explore the opportunities within the new Pinney Studio, reconnect with community members and co-create a public art piece that was installed at the Pinney Library in 2023. This unique residency was supported by a designated gift from the Friends of Pinney Library. Programming and internal support was provided by the Madison Public Library and Bubbler staff.