Expanding Freedom

Overview

Revealing the enduring impact of racial slavery, and charting a vision for a brighter civic and economic future

Inside Richmond’s historic Main Street Station—once at the center of the domestic slave trade—the Shockoe Institute’s Expanding Freedom exhibit connects the economic engine of American racial slavery to the policy choices that shaped civic power, opportunity, and inequality.

Designed by Local Projects the flagship exhibition and a dynamic, interactive space called “The Lab” operate in tandem to “put history to work,” helping people translate historical truth into civic agency, offering a rare model for what honest national storytelling can do in a polarized moment. 

Through this immersive exhibit, interactive learning lab, and ongoing creative programs, the Shockoe Institute is examining the national ramifications of this history and deepening every visitor’s understanding of contemporary challenges and opportunities we face as a nation.

Partners

1220 Exhibits, Electrosonic

Services

Exhibit Design, Media Design, Software Design