Next Featured Exhibit
Evicted
February 1 – March 31 — YDL-Whittaker during regular hours
A traveling exhibit that explores the enormous costs of low-income renter eviction.
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. 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.
Evicted is sponsored by:
The National Building Museum educates, entertains, and engages people about the built environment and challenges them to advocate for a sustainable and equitable future. This exhibit is made possible with funding from the Friends of the Friends of the Ypsilanti District Library.