Love Letters in Secret Gardens: Highland Park and East Liberty

Dear M,
Your letter made me look for the map, I started getting lost in it. Isn’t a map supposed to guide? When you think about your lover, eleven years ago, who do you find? Can you see yourself through the lens of time? Have you ever mapped your affections, drawing paths from one lover to another? So many questions…

Walk with artist Carolina Loyola-Garcia as she leads a tour through amorous letters, gardens, and Madeleine de Scudery’s “Map of Love.” You will have the opportunity to experience remembrance in association with movement in the cozy and safe environment of beautiful gardens in Highland Park and East Liberty. You will not need a topographic map, but might leave the tour with a draft of an emotional map and the beginning of a letter, along with some gestures to accompany it all.

Using a few back alleys, we will traverse a new path, trying to find a connection to the backyard of your own memories. There will be prompts at each stage, to engage you with your own self and memory, and maybe with those of others. What have you erased and what have you kept? Who have you kept and who has been forgotten? Still, so many questions…

Please bring a notebook and a writing implement.

About Carolina Loyola-Garcia

Carolina Loyola-Garcia is a multidisciplinary artist, filmmaker, and educator whose work explores the intersections of identity, memory, and the human condition. Originally from Santiago, Chile, she has spent decades contributing to the cultural landscape of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she established a practice that bridges experimental storytelling with digital innovation.

Her artistic approach often blends diverse media—including photography, video, and performance—to examine how we relate to our environments and one another. In her large- scale commissions, she frequently utilizes digital collage and fractal geometry to create immersive visual experiences that offer a sense of solace and wonder. As an artist committed to the public sphere, Loyola-Garcia’s work has been featured in numerous exhibitions nationally and internationally, reflecting her belief that art is a vital tool for community connection and personal reflection. Her practice remains a constant search for the beauty and complex rhythms inherent in both nature and the human spirit.

Meeting Location

Participants will meet at the corner of Stanton Avenue and North Euclid Avenue, Pittsburgh 15206.

Parking and Transportation

Street parking is available within the vicinity.

If taking public transportation, there are several nearby Pittsburgh Regional Transit stops, including one at the corner of Stanton Avenue and N. Euclid Avenue that serves route 75, and one at the corner of Stanton Avenue and N. Highland Avenue that serves route 71B. For more information, please visit the Pittsburgh Regional Transit website at: https://www.rideprt.org/.

There is a POGOH Bike Share station in East Liberty located at Penn Avenue and S. Whitfield Street.  For more information on POGOH Bike Share, please visit: https://pogoh.com/system-map/

Access and Accommodations

This event will be held outside and will take place rain or shine. Please dress accordingly and wear comfortable shoes. The total distance of the tour route is 1 mile. There is one location along the tour route that includes steps and no access ramps. Seating will be available at the last stop on the tour, but not along the entire route.

There are no public restrooms available along this tour route.

To request additional accommodations for this event, please submit your request in writing on the event registration form. A Shiftworks staff member will follow up with you directly about your request. We will attempt to implement requests for reasonable accommodations to the best of our ability, but cannot guarantee that all requests will be met. Alternate accommodations may be suggested by staff. All requests must be made by Monday, September 7, 2026.

Questions should be directed to ashley@shiftworkspgh.org.

Photography, Videography, and Other Documentation

Participants should be aware that photography, video recording, and/or other documentation of the event by Shiftworks, other attendees, or the media may take place during the event. Participants will have an opportunity to indicate if they choose to opt out of being included in event documentation, and our team will make reasonable efforts to accommodate these preferences.

Registration

This tour is free and open to the public; advance registration is required. The button below will redirect you to Eventbrite where you will complete your registration.