Walters Art Museum Map Exhibit

What is a map? Seems a simple question. Yet as a major cartography exhibit at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore demonstrates, there's no one answer.

A map could be a conquistador's rendition of a lost city, an African sculpture recording memories, a souvenir from the World's Fair or a diagram of the Internet in 1982 -- anything from Da Vinci works loaned by Queen Elizabeth II to an anonymous Hindu globe.

From March 16 - June 8 Maps: Finding our Place in the World, which spent months at Chicago's Field Museum prior to its stop in Baltimore, broadens our assumptions about maps.

Though the Walters is free, this ticketed exhibit costs $6-$12. However, some objects from the exhibit are on display in the free areas.

In addition to the main exhibit, the Walters hosts a show of Hubble Telescope images Feb. 2 - July 27. And it has organized a city-wide Festival of Maps, which includes maps made by community groups in Baltimore and on display at the Walters' Maps on Purpose exhibit.