Sean Schumacher (b. 1986) explores the unnoticed and the forgotten of everyday history—the mundane or even accidental non-events of timelines that get recorded often in spite of their creators. His futile gestures, from fragilely outlining the walls of forgotten homes to capturing the dialogue created when hairs become trapped in wall paint, honor lost and lossy moments. A native of Las Vegas, his most recent work explores and historicizes the uniquely thorough de-historicization of his own home town, locating what can be saved to tell the story of that city's natives when the industry that provides for them also displaces the components of their identity.

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Sean Schumacher

A Walking Tour of Maryland Parkway

Graffiti
The project integrated actual scenes of decay from around the Maryland Parkway area, including graffiti.

While Las Vegas' Maryland Parkway was once known both for its new university and thriving retail (a commercial that ran until the 1990s asked the hypothetical "What can compare to Maryland Square?", a now-defunct strip mall whose only remaining business is a drug treatment center), economic prosperity has now largely left the area in blight, marked largely by the preponderance of garbage and decay along its path.

A Walking Tour of Maryland Parkway mixes the facts and fictions of this area into a catalog of the degradation on the road that leads from McCarran Airport and—both literally and figuratively—goes downhill from there.

A closeup of the 2010 edition
A closer view at the "2010 edition" of the Walking Tour book.
A view of the university district section from the 2009 edition
A page removed from the "2009 edition," said to have been found laying in the gutter in front of the Huntridge.
Frazier Wall
Detail of the previous page.
2010 edition
The 2010 edition of the book in full.
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