Artist Kate Pocrass wants to know: Where do you find happiness in Palo Alto?
The answer to that question comes in the form of a project launched by Pocrass, who has asked hundreds of Palo Alto residents to identify and describe their happy places throughout the city.
The artist invited residents in July to identify places throughout the City—known and hidden—that make them happy. Participants provided input through an electronic survey, which is being interpreted by Pocrass and will be used to create a unique map called This is Happiness: Palo Alto.
The project will be completed by Sept. 19, and free copies of the map will be available at the Palo Alto Art Center and other sites throughout the city.
“You don’t have to travel to exotic, far-flung lands to be inspired,” says Pocrass. “Although we get wanderlust and dream of faraway lands, our own city always presents us with wonders in the smallest, unexpected details.”
Kate Pocrass is an artist, illustrator and designer who received her BFA from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and her MFA from the California College of the Arts. Her work has been included in exhibitions at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Orange County Museum of Art, Southern Exposure and New Langton Arts. She is the recipient of a Eureka Fellowship Award from the Fleishhacker Foundation, and is the author of three guided travel journals published by Chronicle Books.
She is also an avid traveler, and much of her artwork stems from recalling the details of her excursion or thinking about frequent visits to her corner store. Pocrass has said that she believes the time spent en route to a destination and the connections she makes along the way are more memorable than the destination.
The Palo Alto “Happiness Map” project is sponsored by the Palo Alto Art Center, Division of Arts and Sciences, Community Services Department, City of Palo Alto, the Palo Alto Art Center Foundation and Our Palo Alto.
