Topophilia, which means “love of place”, is a term that explores the bond between people and place. It's also the topic and title of a new exhibition at the Earth Sciences & Map Library, Topophilia, which is open now until August 2025.

The exhibition invites viewers to consider their own relationships to place through the prints of Johanna Mueller, ceramic installations by Rita Vali, and a collection of gorgeous maps from the University Libraries co-curated by Geological Sciences/Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics PhD candidate Sam Cartwright and Map Curator Naomi Heiser.

Mueller and Vali are local artists whose influences draw heavily from the Colorado and western landscape. Vali’s work specifically references her childhood growing up in Wyoming.

“Wyoming embodies my topophilia; it is my place of solace and a source of inspiration. A place I return to often,” said Vali in her curatorial statement.

Both artists made entirely new work for this exhibition based on the challenge of exploring what topophilia means to them and in Mueller's case, these works present "the shared histories of humans, as told by animals."

Topophilia was first introduced by poet W. H. Auden in 1948 and popularized in the 1970s as a geographical concept in the work of Yi-Fu Tuan, who founded the field of humanistic geography.

Jennifer Fluri, chair of the Geography Department, said the meaning of topophilia has evolved to include new voices and perspectives, a point which is illustrated in the maps and works selected for the exhibition.

“The maps in this exhibition highlight the opportunities and limitations of mapping the earth’s (and other planetary) surfaces. Maps guide and help us navigate space, but they can also be used in oppressive ways,” said Fluri. "The aspirational form of topophilia remains open, inclusive and willing to embrace differences which can be achieved by engaging newcomers in our home locations and offering an opportunity to share and learn multiple forms of topophilia.”

In his role as guest curator, Cartwright worked collaboratively with Heiser to research and select maps that highlight the many inventive ways cartographers have rendered 3-dimensional space, both terrestrial and celestial. Cartwright said his goal is to "bring remote and unfamiliar terrain into visceral relief, whether here on Earth or at the farthest reaches of space."

The Libraries’ map collection is rich with examples of the best cartographers and topographers of different time periods and styles, including mapping of space.

“I’ve wanted to create an exhibit about topophilia ever since reading D. H. Lawrence’s The Spirit of Place, which proposes an emotional connection between humans and certain places that transcends location, terrain and even a sense of home,” said Heiser. “What causes such love of a particular landscape that it feels like you’ve always been a part of it? Working with maps every day provokes the same occasional startled familiarity, as if the map has suddenly opened up and taken you with it.”

Topophilia is on view until August 2025 in the Earth Sciences & Map Library, now with extended evening and weekend hours.