For two weeks this spring the Robinson Map Library was home to an art exhibition entitled “The Disabled Wandering Atlas” curated by UW-Madison MFA-candidate Anne E. Stoner. The collaboration was a wonderful example of how library spaces can be instrumental in supporting students and amplifying their work.
The exhibition was the result of a two-year social practice project where Anne worked with disabled individuals nationally and internationally to capture a multitude of “wanderings.” This exhibition served as her qualifying show for a master’s degree in Studio Art, where she successfully became a candidate for the master of Fine Art (MFA). Comprised of drawn and interpretive maps, field recordings and field video, the Disabled Wandering Atlas exhibited the everyday experiences of disabled individuals, asking if disabled wandering exists and how it functions.
Map & Geospatial Data Librarian Jaime Martindale worked closely with Anne to prepare the space for the exhibition’s physical pieces, video monitors, and audio recordings. For Anne, it seemed almost essential that the show exist within the Robinson Map Library – surrounded by a collection of hundreds of thousands of maps that would provide a conceptual framework for the project. Upon receiving her master’s degree successfully after the first week of the show, Anne’s faculty committee commented that the library setting played a significant role in the work, making it almost “site-specific” where they could not imagine it existing in any other place.
On April 23, Anne and Jaime joined students from the GIS Professional Programs and Cartography Lab for the GISPP informal speaker series Map Chat. In her Map Chat, Anne explained how she gathered pieces for her show, how her gathering technique evolved over time, and how the meaning of the word “wander” slowly shifted for her as the exhibition developed.
This collaboration paves the way for elevating libraries as valuable resources beyond our own collection holdings. The vast majority of our efforts to promote the Robinson Map Library have focused heavily on our cartographic collections. While this has long supported our academic and public outreach missions, it is important that we recognize the need to continually develop and promote new and creative roles for our library spaces in academia and beyond.
Anne E. Stoner is a sound artist and social ethnographer whose work, informed by disability studies and queer archival practices, focuses on the intersections of identity and geography in both sonic and physical space. The Disabled Wandering Atlas exhibition ran from April 21 – May 2, 2025 in the Robinson Map Library. Over 70 people attended the opening reception for the show on Friday, April 25th.
