Ever Arriving includes artwork inspired by the birthplace (Scotland) and death place (Samoa) of author Robert Louis Stevenson. This title also features artwork, essays and poetry inspired by the transformative aspects of travel. Original prose contributed by The Department of English. This is the eighth book from The Department of Art & Design fine art book series.
Tommy Ervin
Rachel Walton
Yen Chen Liao
Kya Powell
Everything about the creation of Ever Arriving has been a journey. As with most journeys, little went as planned, and initial expectations ultimately did not reflect the final product.
As with many travels, we focused on the beginning and end, with little regard for the journey between. As the saying goes, life is what happens in-between the origination and the destination. Initially, we intended to create artwork based on the stories and poetry written by Robert Louis Stevenson. Unfortunately, our study abroad program for this project was canceled not once, but twice due to the pandemic. During this delay, I found a collection of his poems entitled The Songs of Travel and Other Verses. As we continued to dream about the project, this title continued to intrigue. The project slowly began to drift away from the writings of RLS and towards the poetry of travel instead. We found harmony in this new direction and how the experiences and locations of RLS’s travels transformed him as an artist and as an individual. Under this focus, Robert Louis Stevenson himself became more of a spiritual guide on our artistic journey, rather than his writings being the catalyst.
Wanderlust is not a new concept. Artists for centuries have traveled to find inspiration and countless others have traveled to “find themselves.” Most art projects and vacations end up vastly different from their original vision, especially if those journeying keep themselves open to the unexpected.
Unplanned shifts continued to surface during the evolution of this project. Other than the aesthetic changes discussed in the book’s Design Notes, another shift occurred after running into a former student of my introductory photography course named Brock Jones. Now, Brock is an Associate Professor of creative writing at UVU. We spoke several times about this project, and our ideas evolved into a collaboration that invited his creative writing students to write original poetry. Of those submissions, we were able to incorporate twenty-one wonderfully envisioned and executed poems with selected artwork. These poems were not tethered to RLS but rather to their own experience with travel. Brock was also able to contribute a poem called Fruitful Adaptations using a style known as found poetry. Following this theme, Brock took essays from the first five books, selecting seemingly disconnected words and giving them new associations and new life. In my mind, this poem helped to solidify the direction that the book eventually took.
Mark Twain wrote that, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.” We provided students with opportunities to experience place and culture, and then create accordingly. We wanted them to open their minds and creative voices to what they discovered as they left home and familiarity behind. Students tried haggis and oka; They hiked to lighthouses associated with RLS’s father and hiked to Mount Vaea to visit his tomb. Meeting the people and experiencing these cultures can forever change the mind and hearts of both the travelers and the hosts. We hoped to come away with less prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness than when we started. We traveled to find things we didn’t know that we didn’t know.
—Travis Lovell, Chair, Department of Art & Design
