Investigating Where We Live 2009

August 7, 2009 - April 23, 2010

An IWWL participant prepares one of the walls for the exhibition of their work

Museum Staff

Investigating Where We Live (IWWL) is a four-week summer program created by the National Building Museum in which middle and high school students from the Washington metropolitan area use digital cameras to explore, document, and interpret the built environment in D.C. neighborhoods. For IWWL 2009, students examined the neighborhoods of Columbia Heights, Shaw, and U Street. Their photographs, writings, and artwork are featured in this exhibition.

Participants met three times a week to work with Museum staff, professional photographers such as Camilo José Vergara, writers, and curatorial experts. Three teams were assigned to investigate the physical and cultural aspects of their respective neighborhoods. Students gained an understanding of each neighborhood's identity by interviewing people who live and work there.The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History & Culture, a 2009 program collaborator, provided students with an in-depth tour of NMAAHC's Scurlock Studio & Black Washington: Picturing Promise exhibition and connected participants with exhibition curators and local photographers. 

As the culmination of the program, participants designed and fabricated this exhibition with the goal of communicating what they observed in their neighborhoods. The participants visited exhibitions at the National Building Museum and other area museums to learn about the exhibition design process. Each neighborhood team then developed a theme and design concept which guided their selection of photographs and writings. Finally, the participants incorporated these themes, photographs, writings, and artwork into this student-designed exhibition. Visit IWWL for a visual journey, as students reveal their fresh perspectives on these vibrant and historic neighborhoods. 

Learn more about the participants' experience during IWWL 2009 through the student blog.

Sponsors & Partners

Major funding for Investigating Where We Live is provided by the D.C. 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; The Capital Group Companies; the Government of the District of Columbia, Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development; the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture; and Joseph F. Horning, Jr., among others.