Rachel Kurzius
A mixture of art installations, questionable hats, and celebrity sightings did their part to make the White House’s South Lawn feel like a festival yesterday for the first ever South by South Lawn.
After his trip to South by Southwest in the spring, President Barack Obama said that he wanted a spin-off in D.C.
And thus, SXSL was born, with keynote Leonardio DiCaprio chatting with Obama and climate scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe before the premiere of his new documentary Before The Flood.
“SXSL is, at its heart, a call to action,” Obama said in a statement. “The folks out on the lawn today are artists, creators, entrepreneurs, and innovators who will share how they’ve used their unique skills to engage their communities in making the change they want to see—whether it’s curing cancer, fighting poverty, empowering women, and so much more.”
There was a lot going on—discussions, musical performances (check out Common’s Tiny Desk Concert inside the White House), interactive exhibits—but my favorite thing to watch was all of the people who decided to pose with parts of The People Park, an art piece from New York-based artist Nathan Sawaya, best known for his use of Legos.
