9a to 9p, now through March 31.
Inspired by Matthew Desmond’s book, Evicted, the exhibit brings visitors into the world of low-income renter eviction, showing the enormity of one of 21st-century America’s most devastating problems.
In 2017, Princeton sociologist and MacArthur “Genius” Matthew Desmond published Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City. Hailed as “wrenching and revelatory” (The Nation), Evicted transformed America’s understanding of poverty and economic exploitation with its “unforgettable scenes of hope and loss.”
Evicted went on to earn multiple awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, and many more.
Inspired by Desmond’s book, the Evicted exhibition brings visitors into the world of low-income renter eviction, challenging visitors to face the enormity of one of 21st-century America’s most devastating problems.
Developed in collaboration with designers MATTER Architecture Practice and mgmt. design, Evicted includes specially commissioned visual infographics to introduce visitors to the numbers and statistics that will help them better understand the causes for and ramifications of chronic eviction. The exhibition also highlights ways that some local and state governments and nonprofits are intervening to upend the cycle of chronic evictions, such as Right to Counsel laws and new affordable housing projects. Visitors will leave armed with ideas for ways we can enact change in our own community and help alleviate the downward spiral for those already living on the economic edge.
During Evicted’s tenure, YDL will host book discussion groups, film screenings, leaders from local organizations working in affordable housing initiatives, and representatives from Legal Services of SE Michigan to examine evictions in Washtenaw County – both in the past and since the pandemic’s eviction moratorium ended in August, 2021.
Evicted is sponsored by the National Building Museum.
