VT Camino Study Abroad
October 10 - November 18, 2016

Everytime we have an opening for an installtion the crowd is completely different. This is good, I think, because it indicates that we're capturing something relevant to different groups on campus each time. This time, it was almost all students that came. Many were former Camino pilgrims, but many were not.

There were very few constraints for this project, which was a bit daunting. In the end we built it around the one constraint we did have, which was featuring a large map of Spain and the Camino. Once we settled on that, we created a room around the map in hopes of making a space for people to get temporarily sucked into.

There were lots of small fun things about this exhibit. This fact was one of them. When I heard it I immediately thought "We need to get temp tattoos." So we did. And people loved them. I just wish I had ordered 1,000 instead of 100.

The content for this installation was a challenge. Aside from a few guidebooks and boots we didn't have much to work with.

So, we set up a survey and asked former Camino pilgrims to answer questions based on certain stages of the trip, as well as some specific moments. The response was great. People poured their hearts out about the Camino. We then curated teh quotes and matched them with pictures that fit with them.

I'm really pleased with the quality of the feedback on this chalkboard. Sometimes all you get is "Harambe" or "Kanye West" but this time people engaged with it really well. We asked "What is your next adventure?"

I'm also very pleased with the fake grass. It looks whimsical, and fits perfectly with the rest of the installation. It was one of those last minute ideas that paid off.