I’m excited to invite you to experience The Childhood Homes We Lived In When We Were 10, Drawn From Memory Alone — a participatory documentary art installation about the visual and anecdotal memory of our childhood homes.

Since 2013, I’ve interviewed over 330 people about the home they lived in when they were 10 years old. Each person drew their childhood home from memory alone — without looking at any photos or contacting family for information. If they couldn’t remember a detail — the placement of a window, the slope of a roof — they simply left it out. The focus is on the visual memory of these homes as opposed to an accurate representation.

After each person completed their drawing, I recorded them telling a story about their home.  

Later, I redrew the drawings so that they have a consistent look, printed them on laminated transparency film, and suspended them by nails off small 2-inch wood blocks. The suspension away from the blocks allows shadows to be cast on the blocks, intimating that the drawing is just a memory of the house.

Each house has a QR code on the back or next to it. When you scan it, you’ll hear the story the person shared with me after they drew their home.

If you’ve already contributed a drawing in years past, thank you — you’re part of the foundation of this project. I’d love for you to see how the collection is unfolding and how your contribution fits into the larger story.

To participate in The Childhood Homes We Lived In When We Were 10, Drawn From Memory Alone, visit my studio, Lara’s Lab, during Marin Open Studios or the monthly San Rafael 2nd Friday Art Walk. While you’re there, you can see over 130 houses from the project, pick them up, scan the QR codes, and listen to the stories.

Find me at:

Art Works Downtown, Studio #19

1337 Fourth Street, San Rafael, CA

Marin Open Studios: Saturday & Sunday, May 3–4 and May 10–11, 11am–6pm

2nd Friday Art Walk: Friday, May 9, 5–8pm

Lara Myers / Lara’s Lab

Website: laraslab.com

YouTube: youtube.com/@laras.lab_art

To hear the stories NOW that the QR codes link to, visit my YouTube Channel @laras.lab_art.

Thank you to Grafix for their donation of the transparency film used in this project.