Opening Night!

Last night the 2010 IWWL exhibit officially opened to the public.  The National Building Museum is open open Monday through Saturday, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, and Sunday, 11:00 am to 5:00 pm.  Come see the results of all our hard work!  Below are some pictures from the big night-

Congratulations Everyone!

I love my job!

I title this "I love my job," because no other place would I be helping to paper mache a giant crab one day and painting a mural the next. But it's not all arts and crafts. Yesterday I was on my hands and knees scrubbing paint off the gallery floor and sweeping- happily of course! :) But I've never had a job of which my responsibilities include everything from curriculum writing, teaching, mentoring, and getting my hands dirty. Thank you NBM!

The fourth week of IWWL is probably the most hectic of the program, but it's the most exciting as it's the week of the big reveal. Tonight we'll finally see all of the students' creative ideas and hard work make the gallery space come alive. I look forward to spending this evening with the IWWL participants, staff, volunteers, and members of the NBM community. I apologize for the lack of photos in this post, but I don't want to give too much away- you'll have to come see it for yourself!

Pulling Together the Exhibit

Today the IWWL students continued to work on their projects for the exhibit.  The exhibit opens this Friday, July 30th, at 6:00!

When reflecting on today James, from the Petworth group, wrote,
"Today I had a great experience.  I learned more about painting and cutting.  I also learned more about making flowers.  All I have to say is that it was a constructive day."

Levi wrote,
"What I like about IWWL is working on the exhibit and making the paper mache crab for the wall. It is super fun because I’m working with friends and doing my favorite thing which is tearing up paper and letting out my anger on the paper. I don’t know why I need to be angry because IWWL is funnn!!!!!!!!"


Thanks for all your had work everyone!

Josh: Reflections on IWWL From A Volunteer

Working with the IWWL this summer has been a very rewarding experience.  I have enjoyed making new friends and working as a team with the other leaders and students.  I was very unsure what to except as a volunteer, but my experience has far exceeded anything I could have expected.  IWWL is an amazing program, unlike anything I have expected.  I am sad that our time together is almost over, but I am so anxious to see the fruit of all the students hard work! I can't wait for the IWWL exhibit opening on Friday July 30th, at 6:00!

Southwest Gets Creative

Southwest worked hard today to pull together our exhibit.  They put in a ton of effort, so we wanted to share some of the great projects they completed today. 

Denae created a beautiful model of Southwest Rowhouses.  Other group members helped her throughout the day.  Here they are hard at work: 

Denae and Sherve'

Denae works away

                                                                        All finished!


Rachel and London worked on the map with our volunteer Josh:

Imani: Reactions from the Jurors

Today the panel suggested captioning our pictures.  The advice they gave us will help people understand our pictures and why they are there.  They liked what we had so they really didn't suggest that we change anything. 

Cierra: Juror Feedback

I am in group Trinidad.  The panelists told us that we did a good job but they also gave us a few suggestions.  They said that we should make sure that our exhibit is clear to the viewers.  So if there are photos grouped in any kind of way the viewer will notice that.  The jurors also wanted us to makes  sure that our title fit in or will describe the exhibit.  The panelist giving us suggestions helped us go back and fix things that we didn't see before.