Visioning Sessions for the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service
Client: Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service | Location: Washington, DC
We helped the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and Smithsonian Affiliations develop a cohesive, audience-focused vision for a new, multi-faceted project that connects history, civic engagement, and social activism.
OVERVIEW
In 2021, we worked with the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and Smithsonian Affiliations to help them envision I, Resistance: A Frederick Douglass Story, an ambitious new project aimed at engaging young people age 13-22 in civic engagement and social activism through the life lessons of Frederick Douglass.
Through I, Resistance, SITES|SA planned to expand their reach beyond traveling exhibitions and allow for more equitable access through a wider variety of programmatic activities and platforms, including community engagement, in-person and online events, and digital experiences. Recognizing the challenge of creating a coherent and seamless vision across such a vast project, they brought us on as partners to help them conceptualize and focus their work.
APPROACH
We led three Visioning Sessions with project stakeholders, including Smithsonian Affiliations interns (who represented part of the target audience) and subject matter experts to gather feedback and develop a cohesive vision of impact for I, Resistance. Together, we:
Defined the target audience for I, Resistance (young people ages 13-22)
Clarified the intended impact of I, Resistance, and
Aligned strategies and approaches across the project to lay the groundwork for achieving impact.
Based on the Visioning Sessions, we developed an action-oriented guide to help SITES|SA bring the project to life.
CLIENT TAKEAWAYS
Our work strengthened the I Resistance's project’s foundation and set the stage for its success. The Visioning Sessions resulted in more clearly defined audience, concrete outcomes and indicators by which to measure impact, and many ideas for programmatic activities for SITES|SA to explore further.
We also encouraged SITES|SA to conduct additional research with a broader swath of the target audience—specifically teens 13-17 and young adults with a spectrum of affinities toward or exposure to history, civic engagement, and social activism and educational/career pathways—because this would provide a more well-rounded understanding of the lived experiences, motivations, and preferences of the project’s target audience.
