On Election Day, Innovation Fellow Teresa Williams transformed a campus walkway into a space of gratitude and reflection. With the Frederick Douglass statue as her backdrop, Teresa welcomed voters with personalized keepsakes, an interactive voting importance continuum, and a message: your voice matters. Guided by the Work(s) in Progress Studio, her pop-up celebration of civic engagement sparked connection and conversation—while advancing her ongoing project honoring Douglass’s legacy through storytelling and public space.
Teresa Williams, an Innovation Fellow in the Academy’s Work(s) in Progress studio (WiPS), set out to try an experiment with fellow voters on campus. The goal of her experiment was to provide tangible affirmations to voters during the November 4th Presidential Election, that their efforts were appreciated and acknowledged. So, Teresa stationed herself by the Frederick Douglass statue on Election day to do just that!
With guidance from her WiPS coach, Mira Azarm, Teresa was able to design a pop-up inspired by her desire to provide a sense of appreciation on Election day. Those who stopped to chat or share their experience on how important voting is to them, received a personalized Instax picture in front of the statue and a “Thanks for Voting!” button – running out of the 40 buttons well before the pop-up ended. She set up a continuum that was displayed with the question, “How Important is voting? (in the US)”. Participants placed sticky dots along the x-axis to illustrate their feelings toward voting, ranging from “eh” to “essential to equity and freedom”.
In the Work(s) in Progress studio, Teresa continues to expand on a multi-semester project developing a website, FrederickDouglassSquareUMD.com, inspired by the Frederick Douglass statue and Square. One of the highlights for Teresa came on the eve of Election Day, when she shared her ongoing project with Frederick Douglass's great-great-great-grandson, Kenneth Morris Jr. during the Lessons in Leadership series, presented by The Douglass Center for Leadership in the Humanities.
Supported by the Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (AIE), the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH), and The Douglass Center, Teresa’s pop-up brought community and creativity to Election Day, leaving her deeply gratified by the enthusiasm of those who participated.