The more than four-year project, developed with a national advisory council and Smithsonian experts, is a community engagement effort that will consider the connections between implicit bias and group dynamics, how they can lead to explicit acts of bias and hatred by individuals and whole societies, and what we as individuals can do about it. Forty communities will participate in The Bias Inside Us process to assess their own readiness to engage in the project and develop proposals to show how this project will be used to build capacity. Ten communities will be selected each year; a Smithsonian-led project team will work with community leaders and teachers to develop a customized plan for community-initiated programming. The exhibition will be the centerpiece of local activities for four weeks, free of charge, to allow for in-depth programming, as well as to allow surrounding communities to participate. When the exhibition moves to the next community, the Smithsonian will remain engaged to provide resources and support as communities continue to explore ways to reduce individual and group bias and increase community empathy. The primary audience for the exhibition is middle school to young adults (11- to 25-year olds).
The Bias Inside Us exhibition is on tour in the Midwest (Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin) beginning in January 2021. It moves to the Southeast in May 2022 and then the South and West in Fall 2023. The Northeast is the final region of the tour, beginning in 2024 and ending in July 2025. We are now accepting proposals to host the project from communities in the Southeast region (North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Alabama) until January 15, 2021.
You can also visit the online exhibition.
