Prescription is Home
/UPCOMING EVENTS
The Prescription is HOME: A Manifesto
January 23 - April 18, 2026
Mason Exhibitions Arlington
The Prescription is HOME: A Manifesto, a new immersive visual arts exhibition by artist and social practitioner Melani N. Douglass, will be on view from January 23 through April 18, 2026. Blending visual art, participatory installation, and community-centered programming, the exhibition reimagines the home as a site of healing, cultural preservation, and collective transformation.
Rooted in historical memory and contemporary social practice, The Prescription is HOME positions home not merely as a physical structure, but as a living ecosystem—one shaped by ritual, care, resilience, and intergenerational wisdom. The exhibition draws inspiration from revolutionary domestic spaces, kitchen-table movements, and ancestral practices that have long sustained communities through care and connection.
At the center of the gallery is a symbolic frame of a house—a wooden outline that anchors the space while intentionally allowing elements to spill beyond its borders. An old TV shares moments of family life through generations, and invites gallery guests to contribute, making all families one. Photography of shelves, photographs, shoes, kitchens in action, and families at comfort become both sculptural and relational, forming a collective archive built in collaboration with the audience.
Visitors are invited to contribute personal artifacts, stories, and reflections, transforming the exhibition into an evolving communal environment. Quiet spaces for journaling coexist with areas for dialogue, workshops, and shared meals, ensuring multiple modes of engagement—from introspection to collective action.
“The home has always been where culture is carried, care is practiced, and movements begin,” says Douglass. “This exhibition asks us to consider what becomes possible when we treat home as medicine—not just for ourselves, but for each other.”
The Prescription is HOME: A Manifesto also features a robust slate of public programming, including workshops, panel discussions, pop-up salons, and community dinners. These events deepen the exhibition’s exploration of housing, wellness, cultural legacy, and intergenerational healing, while fostering accessibility through inclusive design, multilingual materials, and sliding-scale or free offerings.
Melani N. Douglass is the founder of the Family Arts Museum, and her practice centers socially engaged art, collective care, and cultural memory. Through collaboration with community members and partner organizations, The Prescription is HOME becomes a shared creation—one that reflects both personal histories and collective aspirations.
Ultimately, the exhibition invites audiences to step into a sacred, participatory space and reconsider the profound role home plays in shaping how we heal, gather, and imagine a more connected present and future.
Photo Collection
Join our community collective memory!
Your memories will be added into the exhibition family community video playing in the gallery. As the photo submissions expand, so does the visual representation of our community. Photos will be updated in the gallery on an ongoing basis.
For example, consider sharing moments like, but not limited to:
Moments of joy/rest
Accomplishments achieved
Moments of generational transfer
The physical spaces of homes.
Please share no more than 10 images.
Installation Views
Photo Collage
About the Artist
Socially engaged artist Mēlani N. Douglass is the founder of the award-winning Family Arts Museum - a migratory institution focused on the celebration of family as fine art, home as curated space, and community as gallery. Inspired by the birth of her daughter, Mēlani started her own museum reimagined her studio practice, and refined her innovative approach to community engagement, audience development, and exhibition design.
Mēlani currently serves as a consultant on numerous projects. She is the East of the River Artist in Residence, A DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities fellow as well as a Humanities DC Fellow Her work has been highlighted by the New York Times, Atlas Obscura, Shondaland, Bmore Art, American Museum Alliance Magazine, Baltimore Magazine, Artnet, and National Geographic.
https://melanindouglass.com/about
The Families
Share a recipe, and share your food memories with our community!
Food is a major part of memory and handed-down traditions. Please share a family or favorite recipe. They will be featured in the big book and entered into the Arlington County Library cookbook, being released in May 2026.
-Username: ArlingtonVALibrary
-Contributor Password: jelly478
Contributors: from Mason Exhibitions
Curator- Alissa Maru, Associate Curator
Exhibition Designer- Jeffrey Kenney, Associate Curator
Exhibition Technologist- Ben Bowen
Documentarian- Steven Luu
Photography/Video- Ayman Rashid
Exhibition Research
Soojun Paek
Diana Guzijan
Esther Perez Rosales
Madaline Grant
Mason Exhibition Staff:
Donald Russell - GMU Curator of Collections & Director of Mason Exhibitions
Yassmin Salem - Murals Manager, Mason Exhibitions
Artist engagement: Danielle Glosser, Client Raiser
EXHIBITION BOOKSHELF
Titles recommended by the exhibition’s curators and George Mason University Libraries. Click each cover for more details.
EVENT RECORDINGS
Coming soon!