I was instantly entranced when I recently came across this map of the "50 United States and their Mottos" by visual artist Emily Wick. Wick designed the map by tracing the states from a coloring book to create linoleum block prints, then carved in each of the official state mottos - many of which often appear in Latin on the state flag - creating a map not only of the country, but its multifaceted ideals. Click through the gallery to find your state and some of their surprising slogans. My personal favorites: "She Flies with Her Own Wings," for the great state of Oregon, the odd "To Be Rather than to Seem," from North Carolina, and "Eureka," from California. Wick gave me the full scoop on how she put the map together. Find out after the jump...
She says:
Prints of the entire map are available, or you can show off your state pride by ordering a mounted print or T-shirt (Wick made prints of the entire 50 states available yesterday). I plan to snag an "Ever Upward" for my office.
After I had all the states carved and printed, I scanned them into the computer and digitally assembled them, using a 50 states outline map as a guide. This presented the problem of distortion due to the earth's curvature, as I had printed each state to scale and not from a disassembled map, so I had to skew some of the states and alter the edges slightly so that they would fit together.
What's your state motto? Does it represent you?
Images: Emily Wick at Two Eyeballs Galleries
[Via Prêt à Voyager]
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Wow...this is truly incredible. Would be great for a school classroom...Well done, Ms. Wick!
I was with Em on vacation in Catalina a few years ago when she was just beginning to carve a couple of states. She dumped all this stuff on the studio room floor at the Zane Grey Inn-linoleum blocks and carving knives. I think one of the first ones was Alabama....It's cool how it morphed into the 50 states-it all just came together!
Susan
My state is "Eureka," which I guess could represent me because of the thrill of discovery. But I think Maryland is the most amusing: "Manly Deeds, Womanly Words."
Some of the people in the states are nice!!!
FABULOUS!!!
What a beautiful way to become reacquainted with the states, and for me to learn most of the mottos for the first time. This map intrigues me and makes me want to learn more about how each individual motto came about.
I have friends in Oregon getting married and I'm going to get them the Oregon state and motto! They are going to love it!
I like West Virginia's "Mountaineers are Always Free."
I love this concept. What a talented artist!
Many thanks to the artist.
I will be incorporating this map of the United States into my daughter's curriculum.
Emily is my beautiful niece. During the holidays this year, she presented my son and his wife a framed copy of their birth states. They were thrilled with the gift!
I've also had the opportunity to see the entire framed U.S. map at her parent's home in Woodbury, CT. What a treasure.
We're so proud of her creativity!
Carole Tirozzi
love getting the full scoop from emily :)
anne
Pride swells in my heart for my home state of Iowa and our motto.
Emily Wick has created a gift for each and every one of us.
very nice united state mottos
thank suntan
Thanks for taking the time to explain this in a way thats so easy to understand..
“Gold and Silver” seems to be impressive to me. Honestly I don’t want the US to be divided.
Shail
Agra India
Impressive. It's one thing to see the same old state map with the capitals or something...this is a completely fresh idea.
I'd bet that teachers (either art or even philosophy/social studies) could benefit from this to have students learn and discuss the motto's of different states. Potentially even try to determine why the motto for a state was adopted versus other options.