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Inside Oxbow

Oxbow Distance Learning - Cartographic Self-Portrait

04/14/20

For this portion of the Altered book project, you will be creating a Cartographic Self-Portrait... in other words, a map of you. Since we are also creating altered books alongside you, I have begun my own map of self... it is attached below. Mind you, it is still incomplete... The map should cover at least two pages (spread of two opposite pages).

Some steps to take:
1) Make a list of all the most important parts of you. Be specific. "Family" is a bit broad, perhaps listing the names of your family members and clustering them in one area might be more appropriate. Or using your last name(s). Remember: the size of the lettering and the size of the region indicate how important this element is. This list could include places, interests, beliefs, values, people, objects, hobbies, schools, etc.

2) Look at a map for inspiration. I've attached a Map of Tech Companies too. Look for all the geographic features and political designations. Land masses, bodies of water, mountain ranges, highways, boundaries, etc. Which features will you be able to incorporate into your own map?

3) Draw your landmasses and region: the size of the region indicates how important this element is. More important things should be bigger, bolder, etc.

4) Color and Label: Paint, watercolor, colored pencil, sharpie, scissors, glue... any materials you have will do!

5) Take a photo of your Cartographic Self-Portrait and attach it to this assignment.

I learned to drop all previous assumptions I had about people because I had never met anyone like the other students at Oxbow. For the first time, my peers and their insightful thinking inspired me. For example, during the ‘Einstein’s Dreams’ presentations, I kept looking around the room thinking, I can’t believe all of these students are talking the way I think.

— Sara DeLong, Spring 2010

At Oxbow, the eye and the hand are inseparable from the mind and because their peers are also artists, students adopt fresh attitudes toward their work.

— Charles Altieri, Rachel Anderson Stageberg Chair, Professor of English, University of California, Berkeley

Our daughter graduated summa cum laude from NYU with a double major in Studio Art and Art History. She is now working for Calvin Klein. She is contemplating getting a law degree and pursuing a career repatriating art objects. She still keeps in touch with several of her Oxbow classmates and they have regular reunions in Manhattan... I would say that Oxbow was the best semester that any of my four children spent in their cumulative 16 years of high school. Our daughter was the right kid, and for the right kid you do a wonderful job. You changed her life. Thank you.

— John Powley, Parent

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