You Are Here: Opportunity, Exploration, and Endurance in the San Juan Mountains
June 2024 – April 2025
Weatherford Gallery
THM is excited to present their newest annual exhibit “You Are Here: Opportunity, Exploration, and Endurance in the San Juan Mountains.” Featuring an array of incredible, rare, historic maps, this new display explores how the American Southwest came to be navigated, understood, and exploited. These maps tell the story of the various groups who left their mark on this landscape, and how, in turn, the landscape shaped people’s experiences and helped chart the course that led us to where we are today.
Have you ever considered the many names and identities of where you live or the places you visit? The wilderness that the native Utes call the “Shining Mountains” has undergone profound changes over the past 500 years. Maps have long served as a way to document the history of human society by representing the world as we perceive it. Beyond providing a sense of place or direction, maps are a form of communication. They can claim territory, plot a journey, or describe the land, its resources, and inhabitants. In short, all maps have a story to tell.
Molly Daniel, Curator of Collections and Exhibits, points out that; “The thirteen rare maps featured in this exhibit are equally beautiful works of art and fascinating historical artifacts. To experience them all together, up close and personal, is almost like taking a time machine through the San Juan Mountains over the past 500 years. Maps can reveal so much about our evolving understanding of geography, history, politics, nature, and art, so they’re really a perfect primary source to learn about and contextualize this place where we live, work, and play.”
“You Are Here: Opportunity, Exploration, and Endurance in the San Juan Mountains” will open to the public with a free opening reception on June 6th, 2024 at 6pm. Refreshments will be provided and all are welcome to come celebrate the new exhibit. Special thanks to Community Banks of Colorado for sponsoring this event.
The exhibit will be on display at the THM from June 6th, 2024, through the close of the 2025 winter season (early April 2025).
