A fifty foot living tapestry. Twelve panels of struggle and possibility. One bold invitation to imagine America’s next chapter together.
In partnership with Next 250, Big Bowl of Ideas unveiled WE | BE | GOING: An American Tapestry, a traveling pop up installation that weaves collective action, memory, and vision into fabric. Its debut at the National Museum of African American History and Culture was more than an exhibit. It was a declaration.
“Our memories do not limit our imaginations.”
Why This Installation Exists
As the 250th anniversary approaches, the country is already being flooded with grand patriotic messaging that often feels bombastic, predictable, and disconnected from real communities. Next 250 was created to offer another path. One rooted in collective authorship rather than spectacle. One that lifts up interdependence instead of individual heroism. One that centers the voices of everyday people instead of institutional fanfare.
WE | BE | GOING was created as a counter narrative to the traditional messaging surrounding the anniversary year. Instead of telling people what America is, the installation invites people to consider what America could become when we look at our shared history honestly and imagine our future with intention.
The tapestry is intentionally mobile. It will travel from now through next summer as Next 250 hosts town halls and community gatherings across the country. In each city it will serve as a catalyst for dialogue, reflection, and shared vision. It is meant to be stood around, talked under, walked through, and talked about. It is an artwork designed to activate.
It has already been to Hawaii, Detroit and is coming to LA in mid December.
The Vision
The Next 250 is a multi year, multi sector initiative tied to the 250th anniversary of the United States founding. At its heart is a Declaration of Interdependence, a truth document shaped by community members, organizers, and thought leaders across the country.
WE | BE | GOING translates those words into an immersive experience. A walk through history and into possibility. A reminder that our past fuels our future.
How the Concept Came to Life
The design process began with a single question: How do we turn a written declaration into something people can move through, respond to, and see themselves inside of?
Several guiding choices shaped the installation:
- Choosing the Tapestry: Fabric is communal. It carries story. It moves. It travels well. The idea of a living tapestry connected this project to craft traditions, collective memory, and the sense of being part of something larger.
- Two Sides for Two Truths: One side for where we have been. One side for where we are going. This structure created a narrative arc that mirrors the journey from struggle into possibility.
- Two Artists in Dialogue: The visual languages of Caitlin Blunnie and Stephanie Mercado alternate from panel to panel. Their distinct but complementary approaches create a rhythm that mirrors the coalition of voices behind the Declaration of Interdependence.
- Designing for Conversations: Panel spacing, panel scale, and the physical layout were all chosen to encourage pause, reflection, and dialogue. The experience is not passive. It invites response.
The Experience
The tapestry unfolds as a 50 foot, double sided installation.
Side A: Where We Have Been
Six panels look unflinchingly at our struggles, alternating between scenes of collective action and digital quilt inspired compositions.
The freedom to breathe, climate justice, protecting the earth.
The freedom to choose, healthcare and reproductive justice.
The freedom to organize, economic justice and living wage.
The freedom to be safe, ending gun violence, no discrimination, safe spaces.
The freedom to vote, democracy and participation.
The freedom to thrive, to dream, to build communities of care.
Side B: Where We Are Going
Turning the corner, the tapestry shifts into possibility. The first panel introduces the Declaration of Interdependence with a QR code for deeper exploration. Five more panels invite aspiration. Each begins with “We the ______,” creating open space for values, dreams, and collective imagination.
Timeline Foot Boxes
A subtle but essential part of the installation is the series of Timeline Foot Boxes that sit at the base of the tapestry. These boxes anchor the visual story in time, placing struggle and aspiration along a shared arc. Each box is wrapped by hand with custom vinyl and designed to slide neatly beneath the panels. They serve as markers that connect past, present, and future and remind viewers that movements unfold over time, not all at once.
The Premiere
On September 3, 2025, WE | BE | GOING premiered at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. It was an evening of art, music, and vision. National movement leaders, grassroots organizers, and philanthropic partners gathered to witness a new declaration and to celebrate what we are becoming.
Presenting the work inside the NMAAHC mattered. The museum is a place that holds memory, resilience, and truth. To debut the tapestry there grounded the installation in reverence and possibility from the very first moment.
How We Built It
Like past BBOI installations such as Revolve Resolve and the Giant Sneakers, WE | BE | GOING was built through a mix of narrative strategy, design engineering, and fabrication expertise.
The process included:
- Storyboarding the narrative arc and mapping the emotional journey of the viewer.
- Diagramming each panel’s role within the larger conceptual flow.
- Creating fabrication drawings for rods, piping, hardware, weights, and the overall support structure.
- Engineering a fully portable system that could be packed, shipped, assembled, and broken down with ease.
- Stress testing materials for durability across indoor and outdoor settings.
- Translating digital artwork into fabric in a way that preserved color integrity and scale.
This was not simply printing large artwork. It was constructing a national touring installation that could withstand travel while holding the emotional weight of the story.
Anatomy of an Installation
Every panel carries two layers of intentionality.
Narrative Intentionality
Caitlin Blunnie example
A layered composition that merges gestures of resistance with textures of memory. The palette moves from heaviness into lightness and creates momentum that guides the eye forward.
Stephanie Mercado example
A digital quilt language rooted in diasporic craft traditions. Symbols, motifs, and pattern logic echo themes of interdependence, community care, and shared responsibility.
Together, the alternating styles create a call and response across the full fifty feet.
Structural Intentionality
Each panel includes specific engineering decisions.
- A reinforced top sleeve for clean mounting.
- Internal stitching to prevent warping during travel.
- Weighted bottoms for consistent draping.
- Calibrated color matching across both artists’ work.
This behind the scenes craftsmanship is what makes the installation feel seamless and alive.
Creative Production
An essential part of the design was making the entire piece both dramatic and easy to move from city to city. Fabric panels made this possible. We worked with trusted fabricators who specialize in digital textile printing to bring the artwork to life.
Custom rods, piping, and stands were engineered to break down quickly and withstand a range of environments. Every element was hand tested for balance, weight, and durability.
The Timeline Foot Boxes were wrapped in vinyl and built to slide neatly into place beneath the panels as the final touch.
Behind the Work
Concept and Art Direction: Wyatt Closs, Big Bowl of Ideas
Production: BBOI Arts, managed by Big Bowl of Ideas
Artists: Caitlin Blunnie and Stephanie Mercado
Partner: Next 250
What Comes Next
The tapestry is built to move. WE | BE | GOING will travel as a pop up installation through next summer, sparking dialogue, reflection, and shared imagination across the country.
It is not simply an artwork. It is a campaign to build power around shared values. A call to dream together and to act together.
This page serves as a jumping off point into many facets of what was the Creative Resilience experience. Take your time and rummage around. There’s a reproduction of the original website for the event at the time. There’s blog posts about different aspects of production. There are clips from a 3-part PBS series about the events. So much to dig into. Take your time.
