The maps within the Home/Circles collection capture a range of movements grounded primarily within the home. Submissions reflect the circular dynamic of routines both disrupted and created by stay-at-home orders. Yet, even within the restricted environments of the home, mapmakers detail life through a range of senses and movements. The submissions found below also include several distinct approaches to mapping COVID experiences, reflective also of the process of map-making that was done within group homes and virtual sessions that residents participated in with researchers leading this project. Both the Four Square and Polk Street map collections make clear how the format of the maps themselves highlights different aspects of life within a group home. The use of dots to capture movement within a common space—as reflected in the Polk Street maps—further showcases the multiple ways that a single space gets used by different people.
Map 1 by: Anonymous
Location: Unknown
Tell us about your map: A map of a routine during covid focused at home.
Image Description: An image of a house is in the center of the map. A series of lines connect the house to words. Directly above the house is the words “Watch TV.” Moving clockwise: an arrow connects this word to the word “Color,” another to the word “Porch,” another to “Table” and another to “Couch” and back again to “Watch TV.” The background of the map is filled with intricate colors of purple, orange, green, blue and pink.
Map 2 by: Anonymous
Location: Unknown
Tell us about your map: “These are the places I hear different sounds while I’m in my home during Covid.”
Image Description: This image reveals a map of sounds during covid-19. The top left of the map states, “These are the places I hear different sounds while I’m in my home during Covid.” There are green dots throughout the map to indicate where they hear sound coming from. The bottom left shows the living room, as it has two couches, two chairs and a TV. One green dot is on the TV and on a tree outside of the living room, to the left of one chair. Next to the living room on the right is the kitchen. This kitchen is consists of two tables, a counter with a sink and a fridge. There are green dots on the sink and on a car outside of the kitchen, to the right of the tables. At the top middle of the map is a hallway and a bedroom. The bedroom has a radio and bed there is a green dot is on the radio.
Map 3 by: Anonymous
Location: Unknown
Tell us about your map: This map depicts the activities done during covid.
Image Description: The top right of this map says, “I love to go outside and fill the bird feeder and watch the birds come eat and water the flowers.” To the left of the map is a big tree with green dots to represent leaves. A bird is drawn to the right of the tree branch flying. In the middle of the drawing is two hanging bird feeders. The one on the left is longer and has yellow dots in them. The bird feeder to the right is smaller with pink dots in it and has a bird eating from it. Below the bird feeder are two small flowers. To the bottom right of the map is a person holding a hose as they water their flowers under the bird feeder.
Four Squares Map(s)
Map 4 by: Roy Smith
Location: Unknown
Tell us about your map: Title: “What I’ve Been Doing Since Quarintine” “I have been watching TV. And doing the zoom calls with my friends and watching that on TV as well. I’ve also been sitting in my room listening to music. I also have been liking rocking in the recliner and laughing with my peers & staff. Here recently we have started going on van rides as well.”
Image Description: A hand drawn map sectioned off in five sections. The top left corner shows Roy sitting in a chair in front of a screen doing zoom calls. The top right section shows Roy listening to music with headphones in their room next to their bed. The middle left shows Roy on a recliner chair and to the right middle is Roy laughing with peers. The bottom right shows Roy and other people in a van on the rode with trees surrounding the area.
Map 5 by: Anonymous
Location: Unknown
Tell us about your map: “Walk, swing, on the phone, music”
Image Description: A hand drawn map sectioned off in four sections. In the top left section, the word “walk” appears on the top as it shows two people standing 6ft apart. The top right section has the word “swing” on the top and shows someone standing next to a swing. The bottom left section shows someone standing next to a phone. The saying “on the Phone” appears at the bottom under the drawn image. The bottom right section says “music” on top and shows someone in a box in front of a table and a radio.
Map 6 by: Anonymous
Location: Unknown
Tell us about your map: “Bedroom, Raining, Riding”
Image Description: A hand drawn map sectioned off in three sections. The top right section is labeled “bedroom,” and shows boxes and rectangles in pink, orange, yellow, blue and green colors to represent furniture. The word “Raining” appears on the bottom left section. It shows a park with two swings and a big tree in the middle as it is raining. The sun and rainbow appear at the top. The bottom right section is labeled “Riding.” A red road runs through the middle of this section. Above the road shows a park, a home, a pool, and a wheel. Below the road are multicolored buildings labeled Kmart, Walmart, Save a lot and a Dollar Store.
Map 7 by: James Cargil
Location: Unknown
Tell us about your map: “I have been watching TV and relaxing in my room. I have been recently going on van rides too.”
Image Description: The top-left box is labeled “Watch TV” with a picture of a TV, couch and a person sitting on the couch. Below that is a box labeled “Van rides” with a picture of a car and people sitting in the car. The box to the right is labeled “Relaxing in room” with a picture of a dresser, chair, and a person laying on a bed. The bottom left corner is the name “James Cargil.”
Map 8 by: Michael Brandl
Location: Unknown
Tell us about your map: Title: “What I’ve Been up to.” “I have been relaxing in my blue swing. I also like to listen to music on my tablet. I’ve also been enjoying the zoom meetings on the Ipad. I’ve been able to go on van rides here recently as well.”
Image Description: A hand drawn map sectioned off in four sections. The top left section is labeled “Blue Swing” abd shows the blue swing and Michael in it. The bottom left section is labeled “Watch T.V. & Zoom” and shows Michael on the couch in front of the monitor. The top right section is labeled “music” and shows Michael listening to music with headphones. The bottom right section is labeled “van rides” and shows a van with people in it on a rode.
Map 9 by: Michael Veal
Location: Unknown
Tell us about your map: Title: “Life in Quarintine.” “I have been enjoying sitting on the couch. I have also been relaxing in my recliner. I have also been going on van rides with my peers and staff.”
Image Description: A hand drawn map sectioned off in three sections. On the top left section, it is labeled
“sitting on couch” and shows Michael sitting on the couch. On the top right section, labeled “sitting in my recliner,” is Michael sitting in his recliner. On the bottom left section, labeled “van rides,” shows a van with people in it.
Polk Street – Charleston, IL Map(s)
With the exception of the cover page, all of the maps from Polk Street share the same background. The yellow area to the right represents the Kitchen/Dining area that includes 2 tables at the bottom. Two small grey areas at the top represent the offices. The four green areas at the top of the picture represents bedrooms. The two blue areas at the top represents bathrooms. The brown area to the left represents the living room that include a seating area, table and TV. Located at the top, right, and bottom of the picture are orange areas that represent the exits.” Image descriptions for each image below includes the unique attributes of each drawing that uses this background.
The image to the left is the Cover Page for the following Polk Street – Charleston, IL Submissions
Map 10 by: Polk Street Charleston, IL Submitters
Location: Polk Street – Charleston, IL
Image Description: The center of the drawing displays a red building with two windows and a long driveway on the right side of the building. Below the windows are green plants on the ground. Green grass surrounds the building. On the bottom of the drawing is a red fence. On the right side of drawing is the title, “Polk Street Charleston Illinois.”
Map 11 by: Gene Tichener
Location: Polk Street – Charleston, IL
Tell us about your map: Not Submitted
Image Description: To the bottom right corner is the name “Gene Tichener” and a map key indicating what each color represents in the image.
Map 12 by: Henry Hovey
Location: Polk Street – Charleston, IL
Tell us about your map: Not Submitted
Image Description: To the bottom right corner is the name “Henry Hovey” and a map key indicating what each color represents in the image.
Map 13 by: Jake Pennington
Location: Polk Street – Charleston, IL
Tell us about your map: Not Submitted
Image Description: To the bottom right corner is the name “Jake Pennington” and a map key indicating what each color represents in the image.
Map 14 by: James Marshall
Location: Polk Street – Charleston, IL
Tell us about your map: Not Submitted
Image Description: To the bottom right corner is the name “James Marshall” and a map key indicating what each color represents in the image.
Map 15 by: Jimmy Suggs
Location: Polk Street – Charleston, IL
Tell us about your map: Not Submitted
Image Description: To the bottom right corner is the name “Jimmy Suggs” and a map key indicating what each color represents in the image.
Map 16 by: Travis Sims
Location: Polk Street – Charleston, IL
Tell us about your map: Not Submitted
Image Description: To the bottom right corner is the name “Travis Sims” and a map key indicating what each color represents in the image.
Map 17 by: Terry Teasley
Location: Polk Street – Charleston, IL
Tell us about your map: Not Submitted
Image Description: To the bottom right corner is the name “Terry Teasley” and a map key indicating what each color represents in the image.
