MdW Atlas 2022

Thank goodness everything keeps changing. Thank goodness we are here together, in our own growing ways, under the silver, blue, and gold Midwestern skies. The MdW Atlas is a project that, like art and like the Midwest, illuminates contradiction, concurrent truths, and above all, who we are, luminously and together. In the summer of 2022, twenty editors from seven Midwestern states invited 68 Midwestern artists to write (or draw, or cook, or map) what it’s like to make their work where they are, right now. We wanted to name each other and find each other. The process was freeing, chaotic, precise, and gorgeous.Ultimately, we made our own map. Always, the goal was to support editors and artists financially and in community, to listen and amplify, and most espe-cially to foster a wild and hopeful pride in who we are as Midwesterners.Welcome! You, dear reader, are now our business too. Mairead Case, Atlas Editor(b. Omaha, Nebraska) Designer's Note: “Upon my first encounter with the Midwest of America, the significance of its waterways became strikingly apparent. From the storied Mississippi River to the vast expanse of the Great Lakes, these bodies of water embody the essence of the land, shaping its history and defining its identity. For the MdW Atlas book, rather than confining ourexploration to state boundaries, we are looking for the one things that connected everyone together—the waterways. The “waterway map” serves as the foundation of the book, while the essays flow in as the main stories of the atlas. We lay out the essay on smaller book size(s) and overlay them on top of the waterway map. The two layers intertwine, creating possibilities for different dimensions of reading. Based on its relevant river/water system, we made 4 different sizes for the essays: L / M / S, and one extra format for all the interviews. This system works like a digital map that you can zoom in and out. For example, if the essay’s relevant waterway is big, such as the Mississippi River or the Great Lakes, you need to zoom out. Therefore the size becomes smaller, so those essays will be applied onto size S pages; on the opposite, if the place is further away from a bigger waterway and you need to zoom in on the map, the page will become large. This scaling not only applies to the page size, but also to the font size and its watermap. At this moment we have created an overview map (see page 15). We will also create more detailed maps for each area. They will be used to start a chapter and, used as the back layer of the essays. At the same time, we are also introducing a parallel narrative in the map layer: the eco-system of the Midwest, human and non-human. The side stories introduce the knowledge and history of the rivers and the non-human residents around those waters, as well as the about of the artist-run spaces. Ultimately, the full story blends geography, history, ecology, and art into a multi-dimensional reading, inviting the reader to explore the interconnection not only between the artists’ practices but also with all the lives around them.” Lu Liang | THE EXERCISES, 2024 Dimensions: 8.5 x 11.75" Materials: Paperback, 503 pages   Public Media Institute (Bridgeport) PMI is a non-profit 501(c) 3 community based, art & culture organization located in the neighborhood of Bridgeport. Their mission is to create, incubate and sustain innovative cultural programming through the production of socially engaged projects, festivals, spaces, exhibitions, and media. PMI has published several periodicals including Proximity Magazine, the international arts and culture journal, as well as Lumpen magazine, Materiel Magazine, and Mash Tun Journal. Their main exhibition facility is the experimental cultural center, Co-Prosperity: a 5,000 + sq ft visual arts and performance space that is also home to Lumpen Radio WPLN/105.5 FM. The Buddy store is the newest arm of the PMI non-profit.In 2022, we are bringing back the spirit of that firstMdW Fair, and expanding the period of interaction and programming, in the hope that we can spark some new ideas and immerse ourselves in some needed organized solidarity. In past ideations, the event itself became the main point of engagement. In-person communication and gathering remain very important in our social mediated age. However, in this edition ofMdW, we want to introduce our six Midwestern partners, their work, and projects happening throughout the Central Midwest region, prior to gathering in Chicago. We want to start the conversation and to include folks who can’t join us in-person at the Fair.For the next few months, we will be publishing stories, artwork, media, and other genres from our partners and their friends and allies. Each of our organizing partners has nominated a July and August Editor, and these editors will each commission three pieces of work from their community. All the contributions will eventually become a book. We intend to create a living archive of strategies, and to open a dialogue with a Midwestern approach to facing the madness that surrounds us politically, civically, and economically.Join us. We need you to help us build forward the world we want to live in. Ed Marszewski Director, Public Media InstituteWritten Spring 2022 at the launch of the MdW Atlas