The traveling Smithsonian Museum on Main “Voices and Votes: Democracy in America” exhibit will be leaving Jennings in two weeks.

The free exhibit is open to the public 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Saturday through Aug. 6 at the Jeff Davis Arts and Technology Center, 137 N. Main St., across from the Jennings City Hall and Zigler Art Museum.

Visitors and the community are invited to view the exhibition, on loan from the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street Program, one last time before it leaves, according to Zigler Art Museum Director Tesha Oneillion.

“This exhibit has been very successful this summer,” Oneillion said. “I have been wowed at the number of people who come daily to see the exhibit and the wide range of individuals who have visited it. We have had people bring their children and grandchildren to see it and young people who just want to see it.”

Visitors throughout Louisiana, Texas and Arizona have toured the exhibit while it has been on display.

Oneillion feels the exhibit has been a hit because it spotlights a prevalent topic in the United States.

“It’s something people are thinking about right now and I think they are interested in it because it is a Smithsonian exhibit,” she said.

Oneillion hopes people will walk away inspired to vote and with the knowledge on how to use their voice to make changes.

“I have personally learned a lot that I didn’t know, like what the Registrar of Voters Office does or how votes are counted and turned in,” she said.

“The exhibit is a really good trip through American History from the time the Constitution was written to the present day and how people used their voices and fought to vote,” Oneillion said.

The exhibit also includes a commemorative plate of George Washington’s farewell address and an oil reservoir from a political parade torchlight from the 1800s.

Other voting memorabilia and campaign souvenirs include old protest posters, old campaign buttons, old magazine covers, historical photos and party symbols.

Panels, kiosks and videos also feature information on creating the Constitution, the voting process from 1789 to present, including paper ballots, the electoral college, lobbying, petitioning, campaigning and diversity.

As part of the exhibit, the museum has been hosting special programs with guest speakers and group discussions.

On Aug. 4, from 4-6 p.m., Dr. Theodore Foster, a history professor at UL at Lafayette, will lead a book discussion on “Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won The Vote and Insisted on Equality for All” by Martha S. Jones.

A limited number of the books are available at the Zigler Art Museum. Participants may also check out the book from area libraries or purchase their own copy online or at area bookstores.

The exhibit is made possible through a partnership with the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street Program, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities.