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Visions of Confinement

In June The Confined Arts initiative started a GoFundMe to help sufficiently compensate the currently and formerly incarcerated artist, poets, speakers and advocates at Visions of Confinement: A Lens on Women in the United States Prison System. All funds raised will be equally distributed amongst all of the brave women who have publicly shared their life and experience in an effort to raise awareness and encourage reform within women’s prisons across the country. We value their perspective and we understand that support for women returning to society is essential to their success as returning citizens. Your donations will help us to bring in more directly impacted women and children of incarcerated mothers, which will allow for a more enriched exhibition with more panel discussions, workshops, presentations by experts in the field of criminal justice reform and women advocacy groups.


VISIONS OF CONFINEMENT: A Lens on Women in the United States Prison System

Today, women are the fastest growing prison population in the United States. The current moment of crisis within the United States Prison System has direct impact on women both inside and outside the confines of prison. Once incarcerated, these women must adjust to a new life within the confines of the prison, systematically, physically, and psychologically. For their family and friends, a dramatic shift takes place: new methods of communication, restrictions, and endless limitations. Some of the struggles women in prison face include harsh conditions for pregnant prisoners, sky-high costs of phone calls to home, and strict reunification laws that prevent mothers who are imprisoned for a specific period of time to regain custody of their children once they are released.

The exhibition at Hunter East Harlem Gallery revolves around the experience of incarcerated women, formerly incarcerated women, and their families. The gallery will be turned into an “educational lounge” for the duration of the summer, featuring a dialogue wall, artwork, a letter writing station, a listening station, a lounge area, and a small library inside the gallery space–all of which address artistic meditations on the inhumane conditions suffered by women who live in confined spaces, the shifting habits that happen after one is released, and the methods adopted by families of those incarcerated women. We hope to unearth the struggles in this moment of crisis within the country’s justice system and be a part of an ongoing effort to bring about reforms and improve prison conditions.

The gallery will be a growing educational lounge for the duration of the summer featuring various artistic meditations on the experience of women in the US prison system. Weekly public programs will be hosted inside the gallery in an effort to continue the dialogue around reform and improved prison conditions for women.

Click here to learn more about this exhibition

Organizer

Isaac Scott
Organizer
New York, NY

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