Art Museum of the Americas: ‘The Ripple Effect’

Socially engaged art is the subject of a group show at the Art Museum of the Americas in which artists address such issues as the environment, homelessness, immigration and violence.

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Ghana Think Tank

The collaborative group Ghana Think Tank's streets signs are intended as a counterpoint to "No Loitering" signs. The group plans to install two of them in the Columbia Heights neighborhood.

Ghana Think Tank/WPA /

Pedro Reyes

"Palas por Pistolas" (liteally "Shovels for Pistols") is a sculptural installation featuring spades fabricated from guns that were collected in Mexico and melted down. The artwork also includes social action: one tree will be planted for each of the 1,527 guns collected.

Pedro Reyes/ WPA

ASCHOY Collective

"The Mask of the Shoe Shiner" is another multi-layered work. It centers around an eleborate mask that was worn during a street performance, documented here in photographs. The performance was an effort to call attention to the situation of shoe shiners in La Paz, Bolivia, many of whom are professionals who have lost their jobs and now wear masks to hide their identities.

WPAASCHOY Collectiveand WPA

Mark Strandquist

Mark Strandquist's poignant "Write Home Soon" is a wall of anonymous handmade postcards written in response to the prompt, "Have you ever lost access to a place that was important to you? Please include a memory or story from that space."

Michael O'Sullivan/The Washington Post

Olivier Giron

Olivier Giron is interested in the issue of illegal dumping. "Something out of Nothing" includes terrarium-like sculptures made from found objects scavenged from Fairfax dumps.

Image courtesy of Olivier Giron

Anne Albagli and Vadim Ogievetsky

"This is My Love Letter to You, Washington, DC" is an interactive work in which viewers are invited to submit personal anecdotes about the District, using an iPad touchscreen. As the boxes of the grid are filled by by responses, they reveal a photograph of the city.

Image courtesy the artistsAlbagli and Vadim Ogievetskyand WPA

Lina Vargas de la Hoz

"Umbrella_Relocation" centers on an umbrella that the artist has modified as a tent. The themes of homelessness and migration are central to the artist's work.

Image courtesy the artistLina Vargas De La Hozand WPA

Floating Lab Collective

Like Vargas de la Hoz's umbrell-tent, this modular object, created by the Floating Lab Collective and resembling a newspaper box, includes a fold-out shelter and a drop-down tray for dining.

Image courtesy the artistsFloating Lab Collectiveand WPA

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SILVER SPRING MD: MAY 18
from left to right, Bodybuilders Jorge Villatoro, Sidney Bumbrey, Eric Holmes and Ron Coleman show off their most muscular poses for the judges at the 2013 Musclemania - Capital Tournament of Champions Contest held at the Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center in Silver Spring, Maryland on May 18, 2013.
(Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

Flexing their muscles

Dozens of bodybuilders came out to Silver Spring to compete in the 2013 Musclemania Capital Tournament of Champions.

Kriket Krekemeyer cries while cleaning up her tornado-ravaged home in Moore, Okla., Wednesday, May 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Tulsa World, Mike Simons)

Photos of the day

Oklahoma tornado wreckage, London terrorism attack, NASA’s Dream Chaser, Triton unmanned aircraft and more.

A police forensics officer investigates a crime scene where one man was killed in Woolwich, southeast London May 22, 2013. British Prime Minister David Cameron has called a meeting of his government's emergency Cobra security committee after the killing of a man in south London, his office said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth (BRITAIN - Tags: CRIME LAW POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Terrorism cited in London cleaver attack

Two assailants hacked to death a British soldier on a busy southeast London neighborhood street Wednesday afternoon before delivering an apparent...

MOORE, OK - MAY 22: A street of tornado destructed homes is reflected on a puddle of water on May 22, 2013 in Moore, Ok. (Photo by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)

Assessing tornado damage in Oklahoma

Amid great destruction, residents of the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore begin to assess the severity of the twister that hit Monday.

WASHINGTON DC: MAY 22
Contestant Travis Rumans, 31 dances with his beloved glow sticks for talent at Penn Social in Washington, DC on May 22, 2013. The contestants help raise over $15,000 for the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
The Mr. DC pageant is a fundraising event to benefit Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
The qualifications for the Mr. District of Columbia finalists is that they must live, work and attend school in the District of Columbia between the ages of 21-30 who are unmarried, intelligent, and dapper in a suit.
(Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

Mr. D.C. Pageant contestants compete for charity

Contestants in the Mr. D.C. Pageant, a fundraising event, helped raise more than $15,000 for the Children’s National Medical Center.

ANNAPOLIS, MD - MAY 20: The Herndon Monument Climb is the traditional culmination of plebe year at the United States Naval Academy. The plebes climb to the top of the lard-covered 21 foot high monument and remove the 'dixie cup' hat at the top replacing it with an upperclassman's hat. After completing this, the freshmen are called 'fourth class midshipmen.' This class completed the task in 1 hour 32 minutes and 43 seconds. The hat was placed by Patrick Lien from Orlando. (Photo by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

The Herndon Climb

The Herndon Monument climb is the traditional culmination of plebe year at the U.S. Naval Academy.

US comedian Jerry Lewis laughs on May 23, 2013 during a press confrence for the film 'Max Rose' presented Out of Competition at the 66th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes. Cannes, one of the world's top film festivals, opened on May 15 and will climax on May 26 with awards selected by a jury headed this year by Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg. AFP PHOTO / LOIC VENANCELOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images

Eye on entertainment

Jerry Lewis, Kat Graham, Zachary Quinto, Aerosmith, Carly Rae Jepsen and more.

A Burrowing owl tries to perch on a protective rope in a public park in Cooper City, Fla. Monday, May 20, 2013 as rain falls. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

Animal views

Fun and fascinating creatures around the world.

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Art Museum of the Americas: ‘The Ripple Effect’

Socially engaged art is the subject of a group show at the Art Museum of the Americas in which artists address such issues as the environment, homelessness, immigration and violence.

FEATURED PHOTO GALLERIES