Expo of Our Beautiful Future
Come see it now (or just wait for it to arrive, I guess)
As you may remember, my classes have been time traveling to the near future of our dreams this winter.
We explored the future through writing and art of many kinds, from encyclopedia entries, to archival materials like future advertisements and love letters and pop songs, to the words of the future, to the scents of the future. I’m pleased to announce that Frog Hollow’s time travel work is on public display in Seattle and Carnation through May.
As a culmination of this unit, we created an exhibit, Expo of Our Beautiful Future. Each student made a poster with writing and art about their visions of the future. Our posters are on display in the Carnation Library, as well as the hallway of Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. We also have paintings, a brainstorm of our vision of the future, a glossary of future words, and a group poem about the future up at Youngstown.
So if you’re in Carnation or West Seattle and you have a minute, come check it out! Carnation Library. Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. Now until the end of May.
We have fungi powered planes, lie-detecting watches, rivers full of salmon, de-extinctions, healthy forests, magnetic skateboard lines as transportation systems, future cats, and boats for capybaras, just to name a few things.
And while I’m always a big fan of my students’ work, and the liveliness and imagination of their exhibits, this one is something else. This is a vision of a future where people and animals are thriving and all kinds of wild and wonderful things are happening. It’s a reminder of the beautiful possibilities of the world.
After all, the future is still forming. To create a beautiful future, we must imagine one. This is a challenge! But the kids have got us started. I hope their work inspires you like it has inspired me.
What a fine teacher you are. Your students produce beautiful work.