Art & Incarceration: Reflections on the Inside Vision Exhibition
Knuckle Sandwich, Steve C.
Last weekend, we closed a 10-day-long exhibition of art created by currently and formerly incarcerated artists with a circle. It was meant to be a panel discussion, but instead, it turned into a wonderful, engaging, powerful, and much more appropriate circle discussion. Many people in that circle, and throughout that week, did not know the trauma, desperation, and disengagement with the outside world those on the inside suffer from. This opportunity for an intimate discussion with formerly incarcerated artists and those directly impacted by the system was strongly embraced. It resulted in tears, laughter, and more questions about our current “correctional system” than people entered with.
This exhibit, Inside Vision: An Outside Exhibition of Inside Art, a project of the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition, which consisted of visual art and poetry, opened on June 7th at the Meetinghouse Arts Gallery in Freeport, Maine. That night and throughout its duration, it brought in people already familiar with this touring exhibition or the work of MPAC, as well as people who saw an exhibition like this for the first time. The work ranged from whimsical to heavy-hitting, all of it leading to deep discussion, strong emotions, and a bursting of the bubble we were meant to be kept in. These feelings were strengthened during a screening of Art & Krimes by Krimes — a documentary about Jesse Krimes, an artist who was formerly incarcerated in a Pennsylvania federal prison. His story parallels many I have heard before and those I read about during the exhibition. What those on the inside want so badly is for their voices to be heard outside of the prison walls. They rarely get that opportunity, and I appreciate this exhibit, and others like it to do just that. More people need to be with work like this, and more people need to ask questions about our current system.
I am so thankful for the families of incarcerated artists and those artists who are now out and have lent their voices to this show.