Investigating Where We Live 2006

For the past 10 years, the Museum’s Investigating Where We Live (IWWL) outreach program has taught metropolitan DC students how to use photography to explore, document, and interpret the built environment. This year, in partnership with the Anacostia Community Land Trust, the National Building Museum led junior, middle, and senior high school students in exploring three neighborhoods in DC’s Southeast quadrant: Congress Heights, Hillsdale, and Uniontown.

Twice a week during the five-week program, IWWL participants meet with Museum staff, volunteer instructors, professional photographers (including Carol Highsmith), designers, and writers to learn about photography, urban planning, architecture, and exhibition design. Participants are given a digital camera and, after being divided into three groups, assigned one of the three Anacostia neighborhoods to explore. Through photography, interviews with local residents and business owners, and personal writings the participants discover the unique identity of each neighborhood.

The Investigating Where We Live exhibition is the culmination of this five-week outreach program and features the students’ work. Not only is their work on display, but with the help of Museum staff and volunteers, the participants also designed, produced, and installed the exhibition. The exhibition is a visual journey that showcases the participants’ fresh outlook on the city in which they live, and offers visitors a chance to see new perspectives of D.C.

Sponsors

Major funding for Investigating Where We Live is provided by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts,  and The Beech Street Foundation. Additional support for Outreach Programs is provided by The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Fannie Mae Foundation, The Capital Group Companies, The Clark Charitable Foundation, Clark-Winchcole Foundation, The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region, and The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation among others.