Friday, June 5 - Saturday, June 6, 2026 | 9a - 4p daily
Tuition: $250 [MMAM member rate: $240]
Deep-mapping is the process of exploring a place in a physical, emotional, and creative way. This two-day workshop will lead participants on a deep-mapping experience of the Upper Mississippi River, facilitated by instructor Hannah Demma, that includes canoeing, papermaking, sketching, printing, and storytelling.
Workshop participants will take a guided canoe tour from Prairie Island through the Mississippi River backwaters to collect natural materials and learn about the unique ecology of this space, while documenting their river experience through sketches and printmaking. Then return to the Minnesota Marine Art Museum to learn about papermaking and printing techniques, and to create their own unique handmade book incorporating their paper samples, river sketches, and personal deep-mapping elements, forming a tangible memory of their connection to this vital waterway.
The workshop combines practical skills such as pulp painting, casting, and printing with a portable press, with ecological awareness and place-based storytelling inspired by works like William Least Heat-Moon’s PrairyErth and Robert Macfarlane’s Is a River Alive?. No previous papermaking or paddling experience required.
“A deep map is a detailed, multimedia depiction of a place and all that exists within it. It is not strictly tangible; it also includes emotion and meaning. A deep map is both a process and a product – a creative space that is visual, open, multi-layered, and ever changing. Where traditional maps serve as statements, deep maps serve as conversations." - David Bodenhamer.
