MAPP@50: Concrete Pasts, Possible Futures

MAPP@50: Concrete Pasts, Possible Futures Exhibition

This exhibition celebrates MAPP's first 50 years and looks towards the next 50 by showcasing the depth and breadth of our collective community through the stories and work of individual alums and faculty and the questions and aspirations of our current students, faculty and staff.

Concrete Pasts:  On the columns that support this building, our graduates share how their education has shaped their professional accomplishments, intellectual curiosity, sense of justice and agency, and the ways that they see and engage the world.  Our faculty describe their own research and creative work, and the passions and knowledge that sparks their pedagogy.

Possible Futures:  Floating above, a cloud of interconnected banners pose questions and share images developed in our Future Forum workshops and surveys. New “capitals” adorn the Great Space columns with responses to the prompts, “We are Moving Towards” and “Moving Forward I Will…”

While there were many beautiful and powerful responses to “Moving Forward I Will…,” which are displayed as single words on the column “capitals” around the Great Space, one particular response continues to resonate.  “Moving forward I will…trust that my future self will figure it out.”

This affirmation conveys an attitude of optimism, of being in the right place now, while implicitly affirming the power of MAPP’s culture, education, scholarship and creative work. It is a response that supports continued learning; that creates a space for not-knowing and wondering, what if and what-if-not? This position continually recreates the space of possibility that is necessary for allowing oneself to err and learn today in preparation for acting tomorrow.

Ronit Eisenbach

Kibel Gallery Chair 

You may view the exhibition entries here.

Artistic Director and Curator:  Ronit Eisenbach          

Design Assistants:  Eric Bos, Heather Summers          

Graphic Design:  Pete Morelewicz, Daniela Tai, Ronit Eisenbach          

Exhibition Committee:  Ariel Bierbaum, Jelena Dakovic, Cindy Frank, Maggie Haslam, Christine Hinojosa, Garth Rockcastle          

Future Forums Leader:  Cassie Meador, Dance Exchange          

FabLab Director:  Joe Largess          

Installation Assistance:  Wadiah Akbar, Hunter Bailey, Diane Bickel, Tatiana Escobar, Marvicbob Estoque, Sara Ghafar Samar, Zain Shah, Terrena Shephard          

Administrative Support:  Erica Anderson, Ingrid Farrell, Dawn Green, MaryLee Seaman         

Printers:  Alpha Graphics, Contrado, UMD Signs and Graphics, Marc Vogts               

MAPP@50 was made possible through the generous support of our Alumni participants, the Kibel Gallery and the MAPP@50 Fund and the members of our current community who participated in our Future Forum Workshops and Surveys.