Introduction

I am an MFA graduate student at the University of Maryland.  This project came about in response to occasional walks to and from the University of Maryland, College Park from my home in Takoma Park.    The walk is about 4.5 miles and follows mostly along Rt. 193/University Blvd. through Langley Park, MD.

I noticed that when I walked was when I felt most "alive".   All of my senses seemed to be engaged.   My eyes were constantly processing all the hustle and bustle around me as well as searching for discarded objects along the sidewalks and roads.  I could smell the chicken broiling at Pollo Campero and the acrid scent of exhaust fumes from cars as I walked along the street.   I could feel the concrete sidewalk beneath my feet and the cold air smacking me in the face as the cars and buses, inches from my head, whizzed by on 193.   I could hear the sounds of honking horns, screeching brakes, police cars, fire engines and ambulances, muffled songs coming from the insides of cars idling at stop lights and bits and pieces of conversations from people standing at bus stops as I made my way along University Blvd.  

This project, simply titled "From Here to There", is a more focused continuation of those earlier walks.   I will be walking at least two days a week the entire semester.   My plan is to collect objects I find along the roads and sidewalks for use in or as inspiration for works in my studio.   I will be posting, on this blog, photographs and or video as well as writing about my thoughts and ideas that manifest on my walks.