‘The Distance Between’ is an exhibition resulting from art project collaboration between students and faculty from Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Royal Academy of Fine Arts and St. Lucas Art School in Antwerp and Aalto University in Helsinki. It was conducted over one-week intensive workshop in Sarasota, Florida and focused on exploring the relationship of residents of Sarasota with their historic neighborhoods. 

 

The people from the local community (business owners, artists, children, fire fighters, homeless) were asked to take part by making their own flags and planting them in a place they feel to be connected to or a place of personal significance. The central idea is to map out individual people and their experiences by placing a flag in the same manner as Sarasota was founded when Lewis Colson drove a stake marking what was to become Five Points, the heart of Sarasota. At the same time the flags are a way to make the diversity of the area and the people more visible. 

 

The project was documented and can be seen here: www.mappingsarasota.wordpress.com

 

Photos by the projct participants | Portraits by Karen Arango