Picturing Early Detroit 1701-1838 at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum , Strand Drive, Belle Isle. A major exhibition of early modern art works, maps, and scientific instruments to be held in the Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery , the University of Western Australia . Some of the material promised has not been seen on public exhibition for thirty years. Drawing from the Newberry's world-renowned collection of over 300,000 maps, the exhibit features 80 selections drawn from each of the Newberry's major collections, including several important recent acquisitions. The exhibit concludes with the message that, above all, maps are treasured because they answer the universal human need to comprehend and function in the world around them.
Maps are more than a diagram of how to get from here to there.
They are a reflection of the time and place they were created and the people they directed. They are art, history, politics, and discovery drawn in symbols, rather than written in words. Maps tell history as much as they depict it. When Columbus arrived in the New World in 1492, he found the gold ornaments and heard tales of great quantities of gold to the south. Dreams of wealth and opportunity would fuel exploration and immigration for the next five hundred years.