UTA alumna’s exhibits bring Cartagena’s past to life
Yanina Blanco (’24 MFA) has brought the rich history of Cartagena, Colombia, to life through innovative physical and digital exhibits. Her project “Underwater Adventure: An Invisible Hero,” a cornerstone of her Master of Fine Arts in design and visual communication, tells a unique and engaging chapter of the city’s history.
The physical exhibit is permanently displayed at the Caribbean Naval Museum in Cartagena, where visitors immerse themselves in an interactive exploration of the city's fortifications. With support from UTA Libraries’ Open Initiatives (OI) grant, Blanco expanded her project to include a digital exhibit, significantly increasing its reach.
"The project centers on Cartagena's historical fortifications, spanning from the 15th to 18th centuries," Blanco said. "It uses graphic design tools such as animations, augmented reality, interactive murals, games and an activity sheet to teach students about the history and significance of these fortifications."
To enhance accessibility and global engagement, Blanco created a bilingual digital version of the exhibit in Spanish and English. This digital exhibit preserves the interactivity of the physical display while making Cartagena’s history available to a worldwide audience.
Jessica McClean, director of Open Educational Resources and Digital Scholarship at UTA Libraries, emphasized the importance of the OI grant in facilitating projects like Blanco's.
"The OI grant funds a variety of teaching and learning projects that result in an openly licensed product of some kind,” McClean said. “Our goal is to ensure the projects created at UTA can be shared widely. This allows us to promote our community’s creative scholarship through platforms like the MavMatrix institutional repository, raising awareness of the impact of our research and highlighting the quality teaching being done here at UTA."
Blanco collaborated with Whitney Russell, a former digital projects librarian, to ensure that the interactive features of the physical exhibit translated effectively into the digital format. Together, they integrated digital humanities tools that enable users to engage in word searches, matching games and vertical puzzles.
"The main goal was to make historical knowledge about Cartagena's fortifications accessible and engaging for students, inspiring a sense of identity and appreciation for cultural heritage," Blanco said. "The project has been well-received, especially for how it presents history in an interactive and engaging manner. It has sparked conversations and excited people about their local history."
In addition to its permanent display at the Caribbean Naval Museum, the exhibit has been featured at several prominent events, including the 21st Annual Hawaii International Conference on Education and the Second Annual Broadcast Education Association Latin America Conference in Bogotá, Colombia, in 2023.
Blanco plans to expand her project to include additional historical sites within Colombia and beyond.
"I want to thank everyone who helped me bring this project to life, including UTA faculty and staff, UTA Libraries, the Caribbean Naval Museum, the McDowell Center for Global Studies and the many project advisers who shared their knowledge and expertise," she said.
Visitors can explore the “Underwater Adventure: An Invisible Hero” digital exhibit on the MavMatrix website in English and Spanish.
- Andrew Branca, UTA Libraries