Tours: Self Guided

A Bold and Beautiful Vision: A Century of Black Arts Education in Washington, D.C., 1900-2000

A self-guided visit in the museum’s current exhibition.

This exhibition tells the story of teachers and students who made Washington, DC a truly remarkable center for Black arts education. In the self-guided visit, you will: discover how key intergenerational teacher/student relationships and educational institutions helped to nurture Washington’s arts community; explore how artist/educators created their own organizations to counteract/supplement arts education young people were receiving; and learn that despite the constraints of a public education system deeply shaped by segregation, overcrowding, and underfunding, African American artist/educators succeeded in cultivating arts appreciation among generations of young Washingtonians.

Location: This self-guided visit starts in the first room of the exhibition
Duration: About 1 hour
Audience:  Suitable for grades 5-12 and up, college and university groups, and adult groups. Student groups will be able to use a free self-guided booklet available in the first room of the exhibition (beginning September 2024).  A free exhibition booklet is also available for college and university groups and adult groups in the museum’s lobby.
Registration: Advanced registration recommended for the optimal museum visit experience. Please fill out the self-guided visit form available here at least one week prior to your group arriving.  Questions? Email the ACM Education team at ACMTours@si.edu. 

Before the Bulldozers: Historic Southwest D.C. Exposed

An immersive app-based audio walk through Southwest.

Step into 1950s Southwest D.C. on the eve of one of the federal government’s most destructive experiments: urban renewal. Augmented reality combined with rich, textured audio allows 21st Century participants to take a walk through a historic neighborhood that has largely disappeared. Using location-based storytelling, we trace the paths of three characters: an amateur photographer determined to capture his endangered community on film, an architect whose vision of a gleaming new Southwest captured the imagination of city planners, and a current-day resident of the new Southwest grappling with the paradox of gentrification. This is a 1-mile tour beginning at Waterfront Metro Station and ends at the waterfront. Learn more about the experience and to download the tour here. 

Location: This Self-guided tour starts at the Waterfront Metro station.
Duration: About 1-1/2 hours
Audience:  Suitable for grades 5-12 and up, college and university groups, and adult groups

 

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