BALTIMORE – The Prison Art Program exhibition, featuring artwork made in workshops held at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women in Jessup, MD (MCIW), will be on display at Notre Dame of Maryland University’s Gormley Gallery beginning on Monday, January 22.
The exhibition will be on view through Friday, March 1. Gormley Gallery, which is located on the second floor of Fourier Hall, will host an opening reception and gallery talk with curator Casey McKeel on Saturday, January 27 from 4 to 6 p.m.
The Prison Art Program exhibition is a follow-up to last year’s exhibit, “Life on Hold”, which was the start of the program that has now continued for a second year. The year’s exhibit includes all the artwork created during a series of six workshops held at the institution, and it is a visual expression of the hope, strength, transformation, and dreams of individuals impacted by incarceration.
The workshops were run in an open studio format. Local artists and art therapy instructors co-facilitated the sessions, with volunteer support provided by NDMU students. Participants were encouraged to create whatever they felt compelled to share, which was a detour from the more structured nature of last year’s workshops, based on participant feedback about what they felt would be most beneficial.
The Prison Art Program workshops are a collaboration with NDMU students and faculty, along with Greater Baltimore community members. The workshops were facilitated using art therapy techniques. As defined by the American Art Therapy Association, “art therapy is founded on the belief that visual and symbolic expression gives voice to experience and empowers individual, communal and societal transformation”. For a second year, all artwork created has been included in order to share all voices from a population that is often forgotten.
This exhibition seeks to draw attention to the fact that women are the fastest growing segment of the incarcerated population, increasing at nearly double the rate of men since 1985 according to the American Civil Liberties Union. It also speaks to the disproportionate impact on women of color; the ACLU states that Black women represent 30 percent of all incarcerated women nationally, despite accounting for only 13 percent of the country’s female population. Hispanic women additionally represent 16 percent of incarcerated women and 11 percent of the country’s female population.
All supplies needed for creating and framing the artwork were donated. The permitted supplies were then brought into the prison, adhering to the facility’s strict guidelines. The creativity and resourcefulness utilized in the creation of the works speaks directly to the unwavering resilience and steadfast hope of this group of artists.
Established in 1895, Notre Dame of Maryland University (NDMU) is a private, Catholic institution in Baltimore, Maryland, with the mission to educate leaders to transform the world. Notre Dame has been named one of the best "Regional Universities North" by U.S. News & World Report.
