This public art exhibition is the culminating work of middle and high school students from eight communities in Southern California who participated in the 2026 Smithsonian’s Democracy in Dialogue Virtual Exchange (DIDVE) program. Initiated and funded by the Smithsonian Institution, the program centers on local stories within a national narrative during the semi-quincentennial (250-year) anniversary of the United States. With this year’s prompt, how has your community played a role in 250 years of the American experience?, students and their mentors learned how to collaboratively design and lead place-based investigations to better understand the stories emanating from their own hometown. Working collaboratively with other cohorts across the country, students shared, reflected, and celebrated the commonalities and the differences.

During the duration of the program, the (DIDVE) students worked at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes and created multimedia projects about their communities. They worked with staff mentors and met with scholars, artivists, and museum professionals to learn about significant places, archiving, conservation, curation, and historical research. Through guided walking tours and offsite visits, they explored the historical community of El Pueblo de Los Ángeles National Monument and parts of downtown Los Angeles. They also engaged virtually with another cohort of students from Baker High School in Baker, Montana, to exchange ideas, experiences, and perspectives. The artwork in this public art exhibition celebrates their time and labor in this program and highlights how they and their communities continue to play a vital role to uplift the strengths of diversity in Los Angeles and create positive change in the United States.