How Museum of Tomorrow Is Shifting the Climate Change Narrative

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Museum of Tomorrow To Host Exhibit at David Brower Center

Pop-Up Sustainability Museum at David Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94704 from March 7 - May 1
Jessica W. Ho and the Museum of Tomorrow team draw their peers’ attention to environmental issues through interactive museum exhibits.

Jessica Ho, 2019 graduate of UC Berkeley’s development practice master’s degree and Museum of Tomorrow founder, noticed a “disconnect between the people who care about the environment and the people who don’t.” 

She also noticed what these people have in common. 

“Everyone talks about social media,” said Ho. “Everyone wants to post beautiful pictures on Instagram.” 

Bridging this gap is Museum of Tomorrow, which Ho describes as a “desirable and eye-catching” pop-up museum that portrays climate change through an interactive approach that people can capture on their phones and share with their friends on social media.

In 2018, Museum of Tomorrow won 3rd place in the Big Ideas Contest, which led to its first exhibit on UC Berkeley’s campus in April 2019. 

A blow-up igloo, decorated with balloons spelling “MOT POP,” was situated on Lower Sproul Plaza, one of UC Berkeley’s busiest intersections. When students went inside the igloo, they interacted with different exhibits focused on C02 emissions and plastic waste and learned how they can make lifestyle changes to lessen their own environmental impacts. 

Ho explained that her intention for the museum is to draw her peers’ attention to environmental issues, while “also providing a feasible way to address the problem” of waste and emissions. 

One of Ho’s favorite exhibits is the Food Tornado. Visitors go inside a photo booth, which displays three protein options: beef, chicken, and tofu. Depending on which button is pressed, different amounts of wind and streamers blow down onto the visitor, symbolizing the amount of CO2 emitted when choosing a protein.