The hot breeze offered scant relief from the sweltering evening summer sun at the Whitaker Concert series. The funky, soulful sounds of Dirty Muggs, momentarily shifted people’s focus from scathing temperatures to the hypnotic music coming from the band stand. Smiling at me, Luna, said, “I really like doing Monument Lab with you, Dad.” Having accompanied me on numerous outings to manage research for the Monument Lab project, my 13 year old daughter had become adept in helping to conduct the surveys of people’s favorite and most significant local monuments.

As a single dad, I was accustomed to bringing Luna with me to meetings, work and various social affairs. Unless there was food and other children to interact with, she’d mostly sulk and hole up in some distant corner to play games on my cell phone. However, from the beginning of joining me on the Monument Lab project, Luna was interested and engaged. Luna is a self-proclaimed artist and loves to draw. The invitation to use colored pens and pencils to illustrate places of significance was highly attractive to her.

Luna was fascinated by all the different ways in which people chose to depict monuments. We would often review the stacks of maps we’d collected and comment on their content. Luna pummeled me with questions about the different places that she saw illustrated. I answered her, reminding her often that we had, in fact, been to many of the places she asked about. Working on the project was an opportunity to reminisce about the trips and adventures that we’d been on since she was a little girl.

She told me that she liked learning about what different people saw as important sites. On her own, she would often Google many of the sites people referenced. Luna found interesting, not only the countless places that people came up with, but the myriad ways in which they chose to portray them. She attempted several maps herself. She told me that she wanted to create in her map something unique, a way of expressing how she saw the world that no one else had thought to do.

One of Luna’s mapping efforts caught the attention of Laurie Allen, Director of Research for Monument Lab, who included it within a public presentation to stakeholders. At the time of choosing Luna’s map Laurie was totally unaware that it was my daughter’s. Luna drew a picture of her face and described how she perceives the world through her senses. At a convening to gather community feedback on the project in St. Louis, many others in attendance were also captivated with Luna’s offering. When asked which of all the maps leapt out and spoke to them, a number of people pointed to Luna’s.

From the beginning I was excited about being a part of Monument Lab. Being involved with the project was thought-provoking, stimulating and at times challenging, but always enjoyable. Going out to all the various sites to collect maps was made into pleasant mini adventures by having my daughter alongside me. Of all of the impacts that the project had on me, the most profound was the way in which it provided opportunities for me and my daughter to visit unusual places, explore new ideas, and strengthen our bond. Maps really can be life changing.