June 22, 2022

Tour the Year 2050 With “Your Future Guide,” a First-of-Its-Kind Online Experience Debuting To Celebrate the Final Month of the Landmark “FUTURES” Exhibition

What will your life will be like in 2050? How do we care for a future that we cannot even imagine? A new digital experience from the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Building (AIB) will introduce you to the ideas, objects, and inventions that could transform your future.

“Your Future Guide” is a first-of-its-kind digital experience that brings the milestone “FUTURES” exhibition—the Smithsonian’s first exploration of the future—to audiences everywhere. Brought to life through a groundbreaking new mix of machine learning and storytelling, AIB’s official future guide of 2050 will be available beginning June 22 at yourfutureguide.si.edu. 

Closing July 6, “FUTURES”  showcases more than 150 awe-inspiring objects, ideas, prototypes and installations that fuse art, technology, design and history to help visitors imagine many possible futures on the horizon. “Your Future Guide” is designed as a gift to carry FUTURES beyond the walls of AIB and inspire millions more to think more hopefully and flexibly about the world to come.

Designed in partnership with award-winning advertising agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners (GS&P), “Your Future Guide” helps people imagine the future by giving them a tour of it. The project is based on research that shows that most Americans struggle to think more than 30 years into the future, but it is exactly that type of long-term thinking that enables us to focus on solutions and the future we desire. Empathy and the ability to envision that future, to see oneself in it, are key.

“We are much more likely to care about a future in which we can see ourselves,” said Rachel Goslins, director of the AIB. “Through the magic of these cutting-edge technologies, we are able to give users the otherworldly experience of time-traveling to a possible future. That experience can lead all of us to being more engaged citizens and better creative problem solvers.” 

“Your Future Guide” begins by learning more about you today and the type of future you would like to see through a series of fun, engaging personality questions. Behind the scenes, a selection tool works to curate a personalized set of ideas and inventions from “FUTURES” to explore for a tour. Ranging from sustainable foods to cryopreservation to the future of transit, these fascinating objects showcase solutions to some of society’s most pressing issues and goals. By bringing museum objects to life in an immersive environment that imagines objects as if they exist in 2050, users are able to come face-to-face with a firsthand experience with futures that were previously unimaginable.

After touring a possible future with Smithsonian’s official guide, users can make a real-world commitment to help shape the future into one that they want. This commitment can be downloaded and shared with others via social media.

“The insight that people are more likely to care about a future they can see themselves in led to an ambitious idea, which we brought to life through a first-of-its-kind technology experience,” said Margaret Johnson, chief creative officer at GS&P. “‘Your Future Guide’ revolutionizes how people interact with museum exhibitions and how they think about the future.”

“It’s been thrilling to partner with Goodby Silverstein & Partners and multiple teams of innovative thinkers on this new leap in Smithsonian virtual learning,” Goslins said.

To create “Your Future Guide,” GS&P worked with leading creative production studio Unicorns & Unicorns, software developer Resemble AI, non-profit think tank Institute for the Future, and teams of dozens of other collaborators and AIB curators were involved in creating and assessing the experience’s ideas and expressions.

“‘Your Future Guide’ is experimental yet accessible,” said Brad MacDonald, director of digital media at AIB. “It engages digital visitors on a personal and collective level while pushing the boundaries of what a museum exhibition can be.”

About “FUTURES”

“FUTURES” is the Smithsonian’s first major building-wide exploration of the future and temporarily reopens the institute’s oldest museum for the first time in nearly two decades. Part exhibition, part festival and designed by award-winning architecture firm Rockwell Group, “FUTURES” celebrates the Smithsonian’s 175th anniversary with more than 150 awe-inspiring objects, ideas, prototypes and installations that fuse art, technology, design and history to help visitors imagine many possible futures on the horizon.

On view through July 6, “FUTURES” is currently open every day from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., except Tuesdays, with extended hours until 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Admission is free, and no timed tickets are currently required. For more information or to plan a visit, the public can go to aib.si.edu.

“FUTURES” is made possible by a select group of sponsors and supporters: Amazon Web Services, Autodesk, Bell Textron Inc., Jacqueline B. Mars, John and Adrienne Mars, the Embassy of the State of Qatar, David M. Rubenstein and SoftBank Group. Major support is also provided by the Annenberg Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Kevin S. Bright and Claudia W. Bright, and Robert Kogod. Additional funding is provided by Accenture, John Brock III, Comcast NBCUniversal, Events DC, First Solar, Ford Motor Company, Wendy Dayton, Charlie and Nancy Hogan, the Suzanne Nora Johnson and David Johnson Foundation, Lyda Hill Philanthropies, MedWand Solutions, the National Football League, the National Football Players Association and Oracle.

About the Arts + Industries Building

The Arts and Industries Building (AIB) is a home for the future-curious. The Smithsonian’s second-oldest building opened in 1881 as America’s first National Museum, an architectural icon in the heart of the National Mall. Its soaring halls introduced millions to wonders about to change the world—Edison’s lightbulb, the first telephone, Apollo rockets. Dubbed “Palace of Wonders” and “Mother of Museums,” AIB incubated new Smithsonian museums for over 120 years before finally closing to the public in 2004. “FUTURES” is a milestone first step in the long-term plan to renovate and permanently reopen this landmark space. For more information, visit aib.si.edu. Follow the museum on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

About Goodby Silverstein & Partners

Goodby Silverstein & Partners (GS&P) is an internationally awarded creative company whose mission, “Mass Intimacy,” is to create experiences that reach millions and even billions but seem to speak to all people individually. Named Campaign’s 2020 Agency of the Year, GS&P has created commercials and digital experiences for BMW, HP, Pepsi, Sam Adams, Truly, Frito-Lay, Comcast, E*TRADE, the New Yorker magazine, Adobe, and “got milk?” They are also well-known for artistic installations, such as the Dalí Museum’s Dalí Lives, which brought artist Salvador Dalí back to life via deepfake technology; the Cheetos Vision app, which debuted at SXSW and used augmented reality to turn people’s world into Cheetos; and Lessons in Herstory, an app that harnesses artificial intelligence to add women to school history books.

October 28, 2021

Smithsonian To Time Travel 50 Years Into the Future To Debut Exhibitions of 2071

New Collaboration With Arizona State University’s Center for Science and the Imagination Pairs Smithsonian Experts With Futurists and Sci-Fi Creators To Launch Series of Posters and Short Stories Set in the Future

Debuting with the exhibition “FUTURES” at the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Building (AIB), a new project ‘Smithsonian Future Visions 2071’ will imagine possible future worlds based on current cutting-edge Smithsonian research, in honor of the Institution’s 175th anniversary. Arizona State University’s Center for Science and the Imagination (CSI) invited eight Smithsonian research teams to imagine what might be happening in 50 years’ time in their unique areas of study. These ‘future visions’ were then translated by award-winning artist Brian Miller and acclaimed sci-fi writers Tochi Onyebuchi and Madeline Ashby into a series of forward-looking exhibition posters for a Smithsonian in the year 2071, along with flash fiction short stories set in the same world.

“Museums are used to looking back into history, but gazing into the future is a lot more unusual,” said Glenn Adamson, curator. “In this project, we were able to pair historians and scientists with specialists in imagining tomorrow—it was the perfect way to mark the 175th anniversary of the Smithsonian, which has always been an engine of the future.”     

The ‘Future Visions’ posters will be on display in “FUTURES” when the exhibition opens Nov. 20 and will be available for free download on Future Tense, a channel on Slate presented in partnership with Arizona State University and New America, where the public can also explore the full collection of short stories and learn more about the Smithsonian teams behind them.

To celebrate the launch, Future Tense will also host a free online panel conversation between Miller, Ashby and Onyebuchi and with co-moderators Adamson and CSI Assistant Director Ruth Wylie Tuesday, Nov. 9, at noon EST. 

“Futures are not determined by just one decision maker,” Wylie said. “Instead they’re built on countless cycles of deliberation, adaptation and inspiration drawn from multiple sources. The workshops distilled this process, activating a collaborative imagination between researchers, museum staff and the artists to envision the next 50 years of innovation and discovery.”

Topics explored in “Future Visions” represent wide-ranging and current, compelling scholarship from different Smithsonian museums and research centers, creating 2071 visions that tackle some of the most complex ideas on the horizon. They include:

–Asteroid mining: Inspired by research from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Ashby’s short story, “Speculation,” looks at a future where asteroid mining and other forms of off-world resource extraction pay off in rare metals and surprising new discoveries for the citizens of Earth.

–Mosquitos for good: Inspired by research from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute at the National Museum of Natural History, Onyebuchi’s “Blood Stream” reflects a world where global climate change’s rise in mosquito populations make these pests into humanity’s allies, bioengineered to collect data and even carry vaccines.

–Museums of the future commemorating 2020: Inspired by a team from the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), Onyebuchi’s “30 Second Situation” creates a future where technology develops in unpredictable ways, with a big impact on museums, detailing a sensorially immersive NMAAHC exhibit of 2071 that connects visitors to the events of the summer of 2020.

–Kids voting: Inspired by the work of the National Museum of American History in tracing the history of democracy, Ashby writes “Claremont v. Florida,” where the right to participate in elections continues its expansion, and judicial cases around climate migration and criminal justice reform have opened the voting booth to younger citizens.

–Correcting the historical record: Inspired by research from the American Women’s History Initiative, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives and the Smithsonian Data Science Lab, Onyebuchi’s “Herēka” posits a world where the systemic erasure of historically marginalized peoples is overcome.

–Humans on the moon and museums in orbit: Inspired by teams at the National Air and Space Museum, Ashby’s “In Pursuit of Extra-Terrestrial Life” plays out how a future international crew of researchers, scientists and museum professionals learn how to safely bring a fetus to term on the moon, ushering in a new generation of humanity among the stars.

–Bionic sports: Inspired by research from the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the National Museum of American History, Ashby’s “Assists” posits a future world where games and play evolve along with humans and technology, with new sports that allow athletes of all abilities to compete on an equal playing field.

–Ecosystem management amid climate change: Inspired by research teams at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Onyebuchi’s “Equipoise” reimagines the Smithsonian’s real-life research station in Panama cultivating mangrove forests as a strategy to mitigate the effects of climate change in a future altered by warming oceans and rising seas.

Onyebuchi is a Nigerian American science fiction and fantasy writer and a former civil rights lawyer. He is the author of the young adult novel Beasts Made of Night, which won the Ilube Nommo Award for Best Speculative Fiction Novel by an African, its sequel, Crown of Thunder, and War Girls. His novella Riot Baby,a finalist for the Hugo, the Nebula, the Locus, the Ignyte and the NAACP Image awards, won the New England Book Award for Fiction and an ALA Alex Award. Ashby is a Canadian American science fiction writer and strategic foresight consultant. She is the author of the Machine Dynasty series from Angry Robot Books and the novel Company Town from Tor Books. Miller is known for his pop culture “propaganda” artwork, and he currently illustrates artwork for Star Wars, Doctor Who, The X-Files and more. His characters come from comics, film, television and video games, and he has illustrated cover art for graphic novels and comics for publishers such as Disney, IDW and Titan UK.

For more information about AIB and to plan a visit to “FUTURES,” the public can go to aib.si.edu.

About “FUTURES”

Designed by architect David Rockwell and his award-winning firm Rockwell Group, “FUTURES” will fill the historic Arts and Industries Building with 32,000 square feet of new artworks, interactives, prototypes, inventions and “artifacts of the future,” as well as historic objects and discoveries from 23 of the Smithsonian’s museums and research centers. It will showcase stories of future-makers who are working tirelessly towards a more equitable, peaceful and sustainable world—inventors and creators, activists and organizers—with a special focus on communities who may not have always had a voice in future-making. Visitors will be able to glimpse how past visions have shaped where we are today as a way to imagine their own version of humanity’s next chapter.

A digital “FUTURES” Guide by award-winning firm Goodby Silverstein & Partners will launch in early 2022.

“FUTURES” is made possible by a select group of sponsors and supporters: Amazon Web Services, Autodesk, Bell Textron Inc., Jacqueline B. Mars, John and Adrienne Mars, the Embassy of the State of Qatar, David M. Rubenstein, and SoftBank Group. Major support is also provided by the Annenberg Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Kevin S. Bright and Claudia W. Bright, and Robert Kogod. Additional funding is provided by Accenture, John Brock III, Events DC, First Solar, Ford Motor Company, Wendy Dayton, Charlie and Nancy Hogan, the Suzanne Nora Johnson and David Johnson Foundation, Lyda Hill Philanthropies, MedWand Solutions, National Football League, the National Football Players Association and Oracle. 

About the Arts and Industries Building

The Arts and Industries Building (AIB) is a home for the future-curious. The Smithsonian’s second-oldest building opened in 1881 as America’s first National Museum, an architectural icon in the heart of the National Mall. Its soaring halls introduced millions to wonders about to change the world—Edison’s lightbulb, the first telephone, Apollo rockets. Dubbed “Palace of Wonders” and “Mother of Museums,” AIB incubated new Smithsonian museums for over 120 years before finally closing to the public in 2004.“FUTURES” is a milestone first step in the long-term plan to renovate and permanently reopen this landmark space. For more information, visit aib.si.edu. Follow the museum on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

July 13, 2021

New Smithsonian Film Project “Futures We Dream” To Showcase Uplifting Visions of Eight Communities Across the U.S.

Award-Winning Filmmakers to Shine Light on Social Justice with Co-Chairs LL COOL J and Kevin Bright

Debuting this November in the Smithsonian’s groundbreaking ‘FUTURES’ exhibition at the historic Arts and Industries Building, a new series of commissioned short films will spotlight the extraordinary ways diverse communities across the U.S. are shaping their own more hopeful futures. Blending documentary, social activism, music, and poetry, “Futures We Dream” will feature new works by nine award-winning independent filmmakers, all created throughout 2020 and 2021 and all responding to a pivotal period of change and challenge in the country.

The project is a first of its kind partnership between the Smithsonian and the nationally acclaimed nonprofit The Alliance for Media Arts + Culture, with Grammy Award-winning entertainment icon LL COOL J and Kevin Bright, the longtime executive producer and director of the TV show Friends, as co-chairs of the series. 

On view through July 2022, “FUTURES” will be the first major building-wide exploration of the future on the National Mall and will temporarily reopen America’s oldest national museum for the first time in nearly two decades. The part-exhibition/ part-festival will celebrate the Smithsonian’s 175th anniversary with more than more than 150 objects, ideas, prototypes, and installations that fuse art, technology, design, and history to help imagine possible futures on the horizon.

To create “Futures We Dream,” each filmmaker partnered with a local grassroots organization, resulting in unique creative collaborations that uplift those facing some of the most pressing social justice issues across the U.S., including: healthcare, environment, Indigenous rights, youth incarceration, cultural heritage, immigration, and more. Filmmakers and community members worked together to articulate their vision for the future grounded in hope, resilience, and inspiration.

Films featured will be:

● “Succulent City”—Created by Philadelphia-based filmmaker Mike Attie, most recently the winner of the grand jury award at AFI Docs, this film will meld spoken word and music performance set in Philadelphia’s urban farms to dismantle stereotypes of agriculture and slavery and to create a future imagined by ancestors where all voices carry and all hands build. Attie partnered with PhillyCAM.

● “NuWu Means the People”—Multi-award winning filmmaker Ben-Alex Dupris (Colville Tribes, Mnicoujou Lakota) will glimpse a magical future for the NuWu, the first people of Nevada, through artists who are turning a cluster of dilapidated buildings in Las Vegas into a vibrant community hub. Dupris partnered with NuWu Art.

● “Dreaming in Green: Concrete Dreams”—South Asian award-winning photographer and professor Leena Jayaswal will use a public art project that draped colorful saris around Washington, D.C. as a backdrop for communities of color to rise up to protect the planet, pledging a future filled with light and healing. Jayawal worked with Project Create.

● “On the Pulse of Life”—Emmy-nominated filmmaker Jessica Jones will document the birth justice moment in Alameda County, California, where Black babies are less than half as likely to survive as white babies, fighting for a future where “the first few breaths of life” are equally precious for all. Jones, a new Black mother herself, worked with BElovedBIRTH Black Centering.

●“Appalachian Futures”—Emmy-nominated filmmakers, activists, and journalists Sally Rubin and Ashley York will share untold glimpses of a future Appalachia where young people can and want to stay, and the region can thrive. They partnered with the STAY Project.

● “Rising”—Mildred Ruiz-Sapp, a Puerto Rican native New Yorker and Mellon National Foundation-awarded playwright and actor, will follow the phoenix-like resurgence of the town of Ashland, Oregon following the devastating Almeda Fires of 2020, led by an unlikely band of artists from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Ruiz-Sapp partnered with Southern Oregon Shakes SafetyNet.

● “Freedom Constellations”—multimedia artist and activist Mark Strandquist will tell stories of and with youth impacted by the juvenile justice system, time-traveling to a future where all young people are free and safe. Strandquist partnered with Richmond, Virginia-based Performing Statistics.

● “Tiichajil (Good Life)”—Academy Award- and Sundance Award-winning director and producer Pamela Yates will introduce viewers to three Mayan men from Guatemala seeking asylum in Texas, and their journey to a more hopeful future following months in an ICE detention center. Yates partnered with the members of the Pueblo Maya-Ixil. As a creative platform, all “Futures We Dream” films will be screened on a loop in a Rockwell Group-designed viewing space within the exhibition, and available on each filmmaker’s websites.

“‘Futures We Dream’ opens the aperture of our collective understanding, amplifying unheard perspectives across the breadth of America,” said Monica O. Montgomery, programming and social justice curator at the Arts and Industries Building. “The series answers the question, what do we dream of, by showcasing stories about everyday people making a difference and speaking truth to power with optimism, resilience, and pride of place.”

“Producing a film program for ‘FUTURES’ has been an extraordinary collaboration with the Smithsonian,” said Wendy Levy, executive director of The Alliance for Media Arts + Culture. “We share a commitment to a just and hopeful future, and this work at the intersection of art, technology, culture, and community.”

The Alliance for Media Arts + Culture is dedicated to promoting innovation and cultural impact for film, technology, and digital media. To create “Futures We Dream,” the filmmakers regularly gathered for Alliance-hosted virtual ‘labs’ offering connection and support through the creative process.

“We wanted to model a possible future film industry that is less hierarchical and more caring and equitable,” Levy said. “The result is eight intentional works of art—powerful, futuristic, delightful evocative—co-created by a network of artists deeply embedded in their communities.”

“Futures We Dream” is made possible by Kevin S. Bright and Claudia W. Bright, with in-kind support from LG Display.

About “FUTURES”

Designed by architect David Rockwell and his award-winning firm Rockwell Group, “FUTURES” will fill the historic Arts and Industries Building with 32,000 square feet of new artworks, interactives, prototypes, inventions, and “artifacts of the future,” as well as historic objects and discoveries from 23 of the Smithsonian’s museums and research centers. It will showcase stories of future-makers who are working tirelessly towards a more equitable, peaceful and sustainable world—inventors and creators, activists and organizers—with a special focus on communities who may not have always had a voice in future-making. Visitors will be able to glimpse how past visions have shaped where we are today, as a way to imagine their own version of humanity’s next chapter.

A digital “FUTURES” Guide by award-winning firm Goodby Silverstein & Partners will launch late summer 2021 in advance of the exhibition opening. A full slate of dynamic, future-forward performances, pop-ups, virtual events, workshops and late-night experiences will also be announced.

“FUTURES” is made possible by a select group of partners and supporters: Amazon Web Services, Autodesk, Bell Textron Inc., Jacqueline B. Mars, John and Adrienne Mars, the Embassy of the State of Qatar, David M. Rubenstein and SoftBank Group Corp. Major support is also provided by Accenture, the Annenberg Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Kevin S. Bright and Claudia W. Bright and Robert Kogod. Additional funding is provided by John Brock III, Wendy Dayton, Nancy Hogan and Lyda Hill Philanthropies.

About the Arts and Industries Building

The Arts and Industries Building (AIB) opened in 1881 as the country’s first National Museum, an architectural icon in the heart of the National Mall. Its soaring halls introduced millions of Americans to wonders about to change the world—Edison’s lightbulb, the first telephone, Apollo rockets. Dubbed “Palace of Wonders” and “Mother of Museums,” AIB incubated new Smithsonian museums for over 120 years before finally closing to the public in 2004. “FUTURES” is a milestone first step in the long-term plan to renovate and permanently reopen this landmark space.

Smithsonian Announces New Interactive Installation by Acclaimed Artist Suchi Reddy as Centerpiece of “FUTURES”

‘Emotional AI’ Sculpture Blends Physics, Neuroscience, and Data Technology With the Human Voice in Amazon Web Services’ First Major Art Commission

MAY 7, 2021

Globally renowned artist and architect Suchi Reddy will unveil a new, site-specific artificial intelligence (AI) and light sculpture in November 2021 as the centerpiece of“FUTURES,” the Smithsonian’s first major building-wide exploration of the future. Titled “me + you,” Reddy’s two-story installation weaves human wisdom and intelligent technology together, forming a shimmering monument reflective of visitors’ collective future visions.

The work marks Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) first major contemporary art commission, and its blurring of responsive light, color, and AI, coalescing in a human-centric form, is groundbreaking in a public artwork.

me + you will debut in the 90-foot-tall central rotunda of the historic Arts and Industries Building (AIB), America’s first National Museum, where the electric light made its Washington, D.C., public debut in 1881. On view through July 2022, FUTURES will reopen the landmark space for the first time in nearly two decades to celebrate the Smithsonian’s 175th anniversary. With more than 150 objects, ideas, prototypes, and installations, “FUTURES” will fuse art, technology, design and history to invite visitors to dream big and imagine not just one future, but many possible futures on the horizon.

For those who cannot join in person, a parallel web app will allow anyone, anywhere to contribute their future and voice, taking a global “temperature” of what the world is saying at any given moment. To create the work, a team of engineers from AWS, Amazon’s cloud computing division, worked closely with Reddy for two years, investing more than 1,200 hours to build the underlying AI cloud technology infrastructure that will power both the sculpture and web platform.

“This breathtaking installation is a powerful and fitting central destination for ‘FUTURES,’ blending humanity and technology,” said Rachel Goslins, director of AIB. “We’re grateful to partners at AWS for their vision and support from the earliest stages of this project.”

“I believe that the power of art lies in its ability to show us new information about ourselves, and to cause us to reflect on the human condition, our cultures and communities,” Reddy said. “Art is a form of wisdom that delights, enlightens, and prompts engagement. Human connection and human interaction are integral to me + you, and the sculpture encourages visitors to explore their individual voice as well as to recognize our collective power.”

“With ‘me + you,’ Suchi combines the most primal thing about humans—our individual voices—to tap into not only our words but also our feelings about the future,” said Isolde Brielmaier, project curator for ‘me+you.’ “She is able to surface unseen patterns in that data, and allow each person to create one-of-a-kind, AI-driven art. Together all of our voices create a new, even more powerful image of who we are as a community, a people, and a species.”

“me + you, AWS’s first major art commission, will allow people to interact with AI in a completely new way. We are grateful for this opportunity to show Smithsonian visitors and online viewers just how beautiful technology can be,” said Swami Sivasubramanian, vice president of Amazon Machine Learning at AWS. “Reddy’s vision and artistry, combined with AWS technology, has created an awe-inspiring work of art sure to leave a lasting impression on anyone who engages with it. We hope this project inspires current and future generations of artists and technologists.”

The sculpture reflects the core artistic ethos of Reddy’s practice and is her first commissioned large-scale sculptural museum installation. It builds on her decades-long work in neuroaesthetics, the emerging science of how art can positively influence well-being, creativity, and connection.

About Suchi Reddy

Born and raised in Chennai, India, artist and architect Reddy immigrated to the United States at 18. Traveling the country and living, and working in eight states, Reddy developed a keen sense for the similarities and differences that bind communities together. Her artistic practice takes root in her architectural training with its expression as public sculpture and experiential work. She tackles issues of societal engagement using art and experience to create discourse around subjects with both local and global relevance. Her work engages material innovation and interactive technologies in the service of expressing ideas around the power of community.

In 2002, she founded her award-winning New York-based firm, Reddymade, with a human-centric approach to design, dedicated to celebrating diversity and equality, as well as addressing the economic, social, environmental and cultural impacts of her work on both the user and the planet. Recipient of numerous awards, including the NYCxDesign award, AIA Brooklyn + Queens Award, AIA New York State Excelsior Award, and Interior Design’s best of the year awards. Reddy sits on the board of the Design Trust for Public Space and Storefront for Art and Architecture. Recent and upcoming projects include collaborations with Google (“A Space For Being,”), Johns Hopkins and Muuto. In 2019, “X,” her large-scale public artwork celebrating equality, diversity and love, was installed in New York City’s Times Square.

About Isolde Brielmaier

Curator and cultural strategist, Brielmaier is currently the inaugural curator-at-large at the International Center for Photography in New York City. After six years as executive director and curator of arts, culture and community at Westfield World Trade Center, she is now the national advisor for Unbail-Rodamco-Westfield, in which she advises on artist projects and installations, cultural events, strategic and community partnerships across the organization. Brielmaier is also professor of critical studies in Tisch’s Department of Photography, Imaging and Emerging Media at New York University, and she continues to work on a range of cultural projects that bridge both the public and private sectors.

About FUTURES

Designed by architect David Rockwell and his award-winning firm Rockwell Group, “FUTURES” will introduce nearly 32,000 square feet of new immersive site-specific art installations, interactives, working experiments, inventions, speculative designs and “artifacts of the future,” as well as historic objects and discoveries from 23 of the Smithsonian’s museums and research centers.

“FUTURES” will also showcase stories of future-makers who are working tirelessly towards a more equitable, peaceful and sustainable world—inventors and creators, activists and organizers—with a special focus on communities who may not have always had a voice in future-making. Visitors will be able to glimpse how past visions have shaped where we are today, as a way to shape their own version of humanity’s next chapter. Instead of simply asking what kind of future we want to live in, visitors will also be challenged to consider why.

A mobile “FUTURES”Guide by award-winning firm Goodby Silverstein & Partners will launch late summer 2021 in advance of the exhibition opening. A full slate of dynamic, future-forward performances, pop-ups, virtual events, workshops and late-night experiences will also be announced.

“FUTURES” is made possible by a select group of partners and supporters: Amazon Web Services, Autodesk, Bell Textron Inc., Jacqueline B. Mars, John and Adrienne Mars, the Embassy of the State of Qatar, David M. Rubenstein and SoftBank Group Corp. Major support is also provided by Accenture, the Annenberg Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Kevin S. Bright and Claudia W. Bright and Robert Kogod. Additional funding is provided by John Brock III, Wendy Dayton, Nancy Hogan, Suzanne Nora Johnson and David Johnson Foundation, and Lyda Hill Philanthropies.  

About the Arts + Industries Building

The Arts + Industries Building (AIB) opened in 1881 as the country’s first National Museum, an architectural icon in the heart of the National Mall. Its soaring halls introduced millions of Americans to wonders about to change the world—Edison’s lightbulb, the first telephone, Apollo rockets. Dubbed “Palace of Wonders” and “Mother of Museums,” AIB incubated new Smithsonian museums for over 120 years before finally closing to the public in 2004. “FUTURES” is a milestone first step in the long-term plan to renovate and permanently reopen this landmark space.

Open dates: November 2021–July 2022  

Admission: FREE 

Media contacts:  
Allison Peck 
Director of External Affairs, Smithsonian Arts + Industries Building  
pecka@si.edu  
202.633.5198 

Elle Moody 
Sutton 
elle@suttoncomms.com 
512.944.9340 

Media website: aib.si.edu/press

Images: Link to Dropbox