"Landscape and Identity: How Travel Shapes Us"

The George S. & Dolores Doré Eccles Gallery

October 3 – Nov 8, 2024

Opening Reception

Thursday Oct. 3

5:30 - 7:30 pm

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

Shirin Abedinirad

Staci Amberton

Kylie Beutler

Presley Brady

Nic Corry

Mary Ann Crabtree

Kenya Heiner

Brian Jensen

Shalah Kay

Jason Lanegan

Racheal LeSueur

Yen Chen Liao

Josephine McCullough

Mikey Silva

Nancy Steele-Makasci

Travel is a vital part of education, offering opportunities for reflection and growth. Whether visiting art hubs like Los Angeles and Phoenix or exploring remote places like Capitol Reef, students and faculty from Utah Valley University were challenged to reflect on the connection between place and identity. Landscape shapes who we are—not just as a backdrop, but as an active force in how we perceive and understand ourselves.

As Phil Cousineau explores in The Art of Pilgrimage, journeys—both physical and spiritual—transform us. Travel encourages mindfulness and deepens our awareness of the spaces we move through. These landscapes become part of our identity, revealing insights about who we are and where we belong. Each journey is not just about reaching a destination, but about discovering oneself along the way.

In unfamiliar terrains, we shed old assumptions and confront the unknown. The landscape becomes both a mirror and a teacher. These journeys serve as acts of discovery—of place, of self, and of the delicate threads that connect the two.