On Monday, the White House brought a little bit of Austin, Texas, to Washington, D.C., by hosting the inaugural South by South Lawn (SXSL) event, which was inspired by the annual South by Southwest festival. President Barack Obama, who was a keynote speaker at SXSW this year, also headlined at SXSL, which has the tagline "A White House Festival of Ideas, Arts, and Action." About 2,000 SXSL attendees gathered on the White House's South Lawn (the event's main hub) for a series of discussions, film screenings, live music, and technology activations focusing on the collaboration among technology, innovation, and creativity. About 22 curated art installations and technology exhibitions dotted the lawn to encourage guest interaction and conversation, and Chaia, Kind Snacks, Little Sesame, Milk Bar, Sir Kensington's, and Sweetgreen provided food and beverages.
Just like at SXSW, the activities at SXSL were divided into three programming tracks—interactive, film, and music. For SXSL, these tracks were planned in coordination with the American Film Institute, the President’s Committee on Arts and Humanities, the National Park Foundation, and SXSW. But unlike SXSW, where attendees can purchase badges and tickets for the event, SXSL had a very different admissions policy: Attendees had to first submit an online request form and then be approved by the White House.
The day began at the Newseum, with about 350 people attending a breakfast panel co-hosted by Events DC. The panel included artist James Turrell and architect David Adjaye, who designed the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture that opened September 24 on the National Mall. Los Angeles County Museum of Art director Michael Govan moderated the discussion, entitled “Hard Things Are Hard,” a reference to a plaque that sits on President Obama’s desk. Turrell and Adjaye gave insight into their motivations for pushing boundaries in their respective creative fields, as well as the cultural and technological changes they have seen evolve throughout their careers.
Guests who received the proverbial "golden tickets" to the South Lawn activities could head to the White House, which hosted performances in the East Wing by alternative R&B singer/songwriter Gallant and soul-inspired rock band Black Alley. Outside on the South Lawn, there were two stages for activities: the Innovation Stage and the Discussion Stage. Guests could watch live music on the Innovation Stage, the site of performances from the Lumineers, the Dap-Kings, and DJ Bev Bond.
The event's film programming included the third annual White House Student Film Festival, presented in association with the American Film Institute. Students from kindergarten through 12th grades had short films at the festival, which had the theme "The World I Want to Live In." A giant video screen was set up to watch SXSL's film programming. Cast members and creators of the Netflix sci-fi/horror series Stranger Things also made appearances.
President Obama, Leonardo DiCaprio, and climate-change scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe headlined a discussion about climate change and environmental preservation. After the discussion, SXSL concluded with the United States premiere of Before the Flood, a climate-change documentary produced by and starring DiCaprio. National Geographic Channel will televise the movie on October 31.
About 450 select guests headed to the POV lounge at the W Hotel Washington D.C. for the official SXSL after-party co-hosted by Events DC and the White House. DJ Young Guru, DJ Kiran Ghandi, and hip-hop artist/social activist Talib Kweli performed at the soiree, which had catering provided by Sweetgreen.
“We wanted to create these spaces where locals and those out-of-town guests that occupy this same head space have a chance to mix and mingle,” said Erik A. Moses, senior vice president and managing director of Events DC sports, entertainment, and special events. "POV is close to the White House, and that view is just very unique to Washington."
President Barack Obama, climate-change scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, and Leonardo DiCaprio headlined the day's panel discussions by talking about climate conservation and its present and future impact on society.
At the Knight Conference Center in the Newseum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art director Michael Govan (far left) moderated the "Hard Things Are Hard" breakfast panel that featured architect David Adjaye and artist James Turrell.Â
For the art installation "Park People," human-shaped Lego sculptures from artist Nathan Sawaya were posed on benches of the South Lawn and served as photo opportunities for guests.
Black Girls Code teamed up with Sphero technology for the "Round Robots" interactive booth, an installation where attendees could make art onsite using round robots.
"Fixing Real Problems," one of the event's six panels, discussed how technology can be used to solve our current problems. Moderated by New York Times staff writer Jenna Wortham (center), the panel had participation from (left to right) Transmedia managing partner Chris Redlitz, EpiBone cofounder/C.E.O. Nina Tandon, Slack founder/C.E.O. Stewart Butterfield, and Coalition for Queens founder Jukay Hsu.
Attendees gathered see "Chuck Close: Large Format Polaroid Portraits," an exhibit by artist Chuck Close. Smaller versions of his art hung outside the main space, where Close created life-size portraits with a 20- by 24-inch Polaroid camera.
Virtual reality headsets allowed wearers to watch artists create immersive visualizations about topical issues, such as gun violence, climate change, and immigration. The artists used Google’s Tilt Brush painting application, which is specifically for 3-D art.
As part of its centennial celebration, the National Park Foundation created the Find Your Park Machine, which offered a 60-second tour of the country’s parks through audio, visual, and geo-location elements. An oversized sign of the activation’s hashtag encouraged guests to share and tag their photos on social media.
Design studio the Mill created the virtual-reality exhibit "6'x9'" in partnership with The Guardian newspaper to provide the experience of what life is like in solitary confinement of a prison.
In the evening, the official SXSL sign became illuminated in different colors based on social media conversations with the event hashtag.
After the final panel of the day, the SXSL Film Screen area showed the United States premiere of the Before the Flood, a documentary about climate change. DiCpario is one of the movie's stars and producers.
DJ Kiran Ghandi performed from the terrace of the POV lounge at the W Washington D.C. Hotel, overlooking the White House.  Â
Grammy-nominated DJ Young Guru also performed during the after-party.
