Smithsonian Arts + Industries Building — Attraction in Washington

On November 20, 2021, the Arts & Industries Building reopened with The Futures, an exhibit focusing on the future of life through innovative art and interactive stations. I visited with my four-year-old daughter on opening day. Here’s our experience:

1. Entry: It’s free and tickets aren’t required. Despite a healthy crowd on opening day, we walked right in and could keep our distance from others since the building itself is huge.

2. Exhibits: It’s the most unique of the Smithsonian museums and worth visiting to learn how technology could influence our future from transportation to gardening yo doing laundry. Like many museums, there’s a lot of reading, but many are also interactive. For example, there’s a sculpture that moves with you, a virtual reality station and circular chairs that rock (popular with kids).

3. Kid-Friendly: There’s enough for kids to enjoy, but it skews older. For example, the virtual reality experience was popular with kids eight and older. There’s a guide book for younger kids to beat explore the museum.

4. Amenities: The building itself is beautiful and inspiring quotes are painted on the walls. There are restrooms and places to sit and read. There’s also a wall asking people to write down how they will act to make a better future for all.

5. Transportation: It’s on the National Mall so Metro is best and the Smithsonian and L’Enfant Stations are nearby. If you drive, you can find street paid parking near L’Enfant Plaza. If you drive, go before 10 a.m. to increase your chance of finding parking.

The Arts & Industries Building is the first national museum in America and the second oldest Smithsonian building on the National Mall. It opened in 1881 as the place to showcase the latest innovations like the steam engine, light bulb, and telephone. It also houses some of the major items held in the Air & Space Museum before it was constructed.

In 2004, this building shut down for a 12-year renovation project. It reopened in 2016 as a space dedicated to its old mission- to encourage innovation. It's now used as an event space for DC's most innovative events. They rent out the space, but also organize their own events like #thelongconvo, a TED Talk style event around innovative ideas.

If you're into history and/or photography, it's a breath taking...

The building is beautiful, perfect exhibit space. But FUTURES exhibit was incredibly underwhelming. My husband and I were excited for what sounded like a truly futuristic experience and a vision for the future, but instead it was a mostly empty space with outdated tech, barely functional software and horrible user interfaces. The exhibit had nothing interesting or new to say about our future or anything of value and substance. We thought there would be like a history of futurism on display, like how people envisioned future back in the 50s to how we envision future NOW and how our vision and technology has changed over the decades and how far we've come compared to where we thought we'd be. That would have been so interesting. None of that was there and instead it was a few "interactive" stations with extremely boring nonsensical things on display. There was a hyper loop car on display with no ability to sit inside or go in it. There was a huge hover helicopter there from a movie I think. My husband and I and our 9 year old spent 10 minutes inside making fun of it. It was pathetic. Really a disgrace. Did I...

I cannot explain how wonderful my experience was at the Smithsonian. The Futures Exhibit was absolutely worth my three visits there. Although I found all of the art displayed to be amazing, the Me Plus You sculpture by Amazon A.I. displayed directly in the center of the Smithsonian was by far my favorite piece in the exhibit. The sculpture itself is stunning, sophisticated, fun, and intriguing. I was honored to have met the beautiful creator, and the absolutely amazing team that brought this grand sight to life. Although I found everything to be interactive and enjoyable, it was a very insightful learning experience to see how far we have come in technology. This combination of fun, and learning makes the exhibit perfect for adults and children alike. This has definitely been an experience I will never forget. Whether alone, with your partner, or with family and friends I highly recommend taking the time to visit the Smithsonian Arts + Industries building. It's definitely a memory...