Jun 25, 2026 08:00:00

A man has been drawing a 'map of a fictional land' composed of more than 4,000 panels since 1963.

Jerry Gretzinger, an 84-year-old resident of New York State, USA, has been drawing 'maps of fictional lands' since 1963, with a 20-year break in between. Gretzinger's maps are frequently exhibited at art exhibitions, and the complete maps from 2013 to 2015 can also be viewed online.

The Map — Jerry's Map

https://www.jerrysmap.com/the-map

This Man Has Been Drawing a Map of an Imaginary Land Since 1963 | Open Culture
https://www.openculture.com/2026/06/this-man-has-been-drawing-a-map-of-an-imaginary-land-since-1963.html

In 1963, Gretzinger began drawing a 'map of a fictional city' as a way to pass the time between work. He continued to add to the map, and although he stopped for a while in 1983, he resumed the project about 20 years later when his son discovered the map in the attic.

What started as a map showing only cities gradually expanded until it became a map of a fictional land called 'Ukrania.' As of the time of writing, the map uses more than 4,000 panels measuring 8 inches (approximately 20.3 cm) high by 10 inches (approximately 25.4 cm) wide, and it would take a gymnasium or a vast wall to display them all.

You can view the complete map from 2013 to 2015 by visiting the following page.

Jerry's Map Interactive
https://marcmajcher.github.io/jerrysmap/

When I opened the page, a portion of the map was displayed.

Here's a close-up of a section. You can see that the boundaries of the map aren't always connected, and roads and rivers are sometimes interrupted.

When viewed on a smaller scale, it reveals a vast number of colorful panels patched together, giving it a certain

outsider art feel.

This is what the overall picture looked like in 2013. There are some exclaves here and there, but you can see that it is roughly shaped like a circular continent.

The following video, which follows Mr. Gretzinger in 2026, shows his unique mapmaking process and how the maps are actually laid out.

He Won't Stop Building a Map to an Imaginary Place - YouTube

The person holding the map panel is Mr. Gretzinger.

My work desk is filled with a vast number of art supplies and reference materials.

These cards are crucial in the production process.

Gretzinger not only adds new panels, but also continuously updates the map by repeatedly redrawing existing ones. However, because there are so many panels, he doesn't work on them one by one in order, but rather draws cards to randomly determine which panel to work on and what kind of work to do.

Initially, the panels that made up the map were as precise as follows:

However, as he got older, it gradually became more abstract.

These days, I sometimes update the panels by collaging various materials.

Furthermore, in recent years, blank areas known as 'The Void' have begun to appear on maps, and their area is gradually increasing.

The Void is comprised of Gretzinger's notes, diaries, and letters he exchanged with friends in the past, as if a part of Gretzinger's life is encroaching upon the map.