Seeing Beyond Maps challenges conventional cartography through maps of sounds, objects, cultures, and communities.

Exhibition Dates:  February 17 – March 11
Location: SVA Gramercy Gallery, 209 23rd St, 1st Fl, New York City
Gallery Hours: Monday – Saturday, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Reception: Saturday, February 15, 5:00 – 7:00 pm EST

Seeing Beyond Maps is a transmedia installation curated and designed and features graduate students from SVA – MFA Design for Social Innovation. The exhibition sparks a dialogue about how maps can be fluid, multidimensional, and deeply human.

Maps are conventionally shaped by dominant perspectives, and they reinforce particular ways of seeing the world. When people confuse models of reality with reality itself, the prevailing view can seem inescapable. Yet, as Alfred Korzybski stated, “The map is not the territory.” Maps are not neutral—they shape power, access, and representation. This is why mapping holds immense potential for social impact: to challenge prevalent narratives and expand our collective understanding. If we make new maps, where will they lead us?

Seeing Beyond Maps challenges conventional cartography through maps of sounds, objects, cultures, and communities. This exhibition sparks a dialogue about how maps can be fluid, multidimensional, and deeply human. Each map aims to unravel a different facet of society—questioning access to public space and challenging urban ecology decisions, revealing social dynamics, celebrating the vibrant strengths of neighborhoods, and more. Through mapping, we navigate the ever-changing world with intention and integrity, shedding light on the systems we inhabit and how they shape our practices, culture, and society.

Social impact work is an ongoing journey. The work is a snapshot of social design practices by students of the MFA Design for Social Innovation at SVA, exploring how creativity can facilitate the conditions and relationships for lasting positive change in our communities and the environment. We invite you to engage with maps not as passive representations but as active practices of storytelling, advocacy, and possibility.

MFA Design for Social Innovation Designers:
Jieying Du (MFA DSI ’26)
Xiaolan Fu (MFA DSI ’26)
Yuki Han (MFA DSI ’25)
Nany Chen (MFA DSI ’25)
Aya Kimata (MFA DSI ’25)
Ae Duk Lee (MFA DSI ’26)
Diana Liu (MFA DSI ’26)
Yajá Mulcare (MFA DSI ’26)
Héctor Ruiz Verduzco (MFA DSI ’25)
Hao Jie Sim (MFA DSI ’26)
Kevin Sun (MFA DSI ’26)
Susanti Vijaykumar (MFA DSI ’25)
Yona Yao (MFA DSI ’26)
Kelsey Zhang (MFA DSI ’26)
Steven Zhang (MFA DSI ’26)

MFA DSI Faculty: Grace Kwon, Mari Nakano, Stephanie Yim

MFA DSI Chair: Miya Osaki

Thank you to SVA Galleries for supporting this event.