May 2013
SuMoTuWeThFrSa
      1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30
 31
  

           

Browse Full Calendar


Buy Tickets

Investigating Where We Live 2005

August 13, 2005 - February 19, 2006

This exhibition showcases the results of the Museum’s outreach program Investigating Where We Live (IWWL) and includes photographs, poems, stories, and narratives from 15 participants who explored three Washington, D.C., neighborhoods.

“Welcome
“Welcome to Historic Anacostia”—a sign prominently displayed at the entrance to the neighborhood.
© Pierre Royster

Investigating Where We Live is a five-week outreach program created by the National Building Museum that teaches young people how to use photography as a way to explore, document, and interpret the built environment, specifically Washington, D.C., neighborhoods. This year, 15 middle, junior, and senior high school students from the metropolitan Washington area explored the District of Columbia neighborhoods of Anacostia, Near Southeast/ Navy Yard, and the New York Avenue Corridor.

A
A volunteer instructor assists participants with their photos during a visit to an Anacostia neighborhood.
© Shunning Zhao
Meeting twice each week, participants worked with Museum staff, volunteer instructors, and professional photographers, designers, and writers. At the outset participants received a basic overview of photography. Three teams were each then assigned to investigate one of the three neighborhoods. Participants photographed the official and unofficial landmarks in their respective neighborhoods as well as the commercial and residential areas and main thoroughfares. They also interviewed local residents in their homes and businesses to gather information that would help them interpret the community’s identity.

As the culmination to the program, participants design and fabricate an exhibition with the goal of showing visitors that beyond national politics and monuments, Washington, D.C., is a community with its own identity. Before beginning their work, they met in small groups with exhibition staff at several Washington museums. They then worked in three exhibition teams. Each team developed a theme and design concept with selected photographs and personal writings to interpret one of the three neighborhoods. These themes, photographs, and writings were then incorporated into the student-designed exhibition. 

A
A Museum staff member examines photos taken by IWWL participants.
© Shunning Zhao

Participants
Participants photograph a local auto body shop in historic Anacostia.
© Shunning Zhao

Sponsors

Major funding for Investigating Where We Live is provided by the D.C. Commission of the Arts and Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts, The Beech Street Foundation, and HUMANITIES COUNCIL OF WASHINGTON, D.C. Additional support for Outreach Programs is provided by the William Randolph Hearst Foundations, The Morris Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Fannie Mae Foundation Fund for the Community Foundation of the National Capital Region, and The Clark Charitable Foundation, among others.

Sponsors & Partners