In 1970, neighborhood residents worked with Anacostia Community Museum staff to transform the vacant lot next to the museum into People's Park. Painting murals on the walls and planting a community garden also helped to transform people’s lives. This is image is one of a handful from ACM's collection that will be featured in "The Utopia Project," which seeks to deconstruct the reasons why social change happens and will utilize the stories of everyday people in the ACM collection to help remind us that the ingredients for change are in each of us. (People’s Park, 1970. Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution)
In 1970, neighborhood residents worked with Anacostia Community Museum staff to transform the vacant lot next to the museum into People's Park. Painting murals on the walls and planting a community garden also helped to transform people’s lives. This is image is one of a handful from ACM's collection that will be featured in "The Utopia Project," which seeks to deconstruct the reasons why social change happens and will utilize the stories of everyday people in the ACM collection to help remind us that the ingredients for change are in each of us. (People’s Park, 1970. Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution)

Utopia…What comes to your mind when you hear that word? Do you think of peace? Do you think of a world where you have all the money in the world? Or do you think of what it would be like to have the perfect world, where there are no problems or hardships.

Here at the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum, we invite you to come and dream of what your Utopia would look like in our new in gallery experience, “The Utopia Project: Inspiration for Creative Activism.” This is a chance for you to come and get in touch with what you care about, visualize the future in our dream space, and learn the creative methods that create social change in today’s world.

The purpose of “The Utopia Project “is to challenge the status quo and rethink the world we live in today. Between racism, hunger, poverty, and all the other problems of the world, what are some steps you can take to get one step closer to Utopia? “The Utopia Project: Inspiration for Creative Activism” will inspire you on ways you can go out and be the catalyst of change in our specially designed makerspace — outfitted with everything from cardboard and tape to Legos and sketch books.

“The Utopia Project: Inspiration for Creative Activism” is a unique exhibition that not only will challenge your reality but will motivate and influence you to want to be better and do better for not only yourself, but for the people and the community around you. So if you want to be a changemaker and start taking action then I invite you to come and check out “The Utopia Project: Inspiration for Creative Activism” at the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum and it is great for people of all ages, backgrounds, and creeds.

The interactive experience runs through March 1, 2023. You can learn more at https://anacostia.si.edu/utopiaproject.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *