Marking Time: Prison Arts and Activism Conference

Sarah Tobias
For Immediate Release, September 15, 2014
Media Contact: Sarah Tobias, [email protected]
Note: Photos related to this release may be downloaded from: http://irw.rutgers.edu/programs/199
Institute for Research on Women to host Groundbreaking Prison Arts Conference and Exhibition at Rutgers, October 8-10, 2014
(New Brunswick, NJ, September 15, 2014) The Institute for Research on Women (IRW) announced today that it will hold its Marking Time: Prison Arts and Activism Conference and Exhibition at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ on October 8 – 10, 2014.  The conference, the first of its kind, will bring together scholars, writers, artists, and activists from across the nation and from overseas to explore the cultural aspects of imprisonment through a focus on art produced by prisoners and in response to mass incarceration. 
“From photographs taken in visiting rooms to poetry and theater, art serves as an expressive tool, a means of political protest, and a creative survival strategy for many prisoners,” said Dr. Nicole R. Fleetwood, the conference lead organizer who is writing a book about art made in prisons. The conference includes three days of panels, workshops, lectures, poetry readings, performances and presentations by artists, activists, scholars, and community groups. Reginald Dwayne Betts, poet and author of A Questions of Freedom: A Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison and Shahid Reads His Own Palm, will give the keynote address. Other artists and speakers include: David Adler, Regina Austin, Pete Brook, Russell Craig, Michelle Handelman, Ronak Kapadia, Phyllis Kornfeld, Jesse Krimes, Deborah Luster, Ojore Lutalo, Jaso Nomo, Lisa Jesse Peterson, Gilberto Rivera, jackie sumell, Kevin Veal, and participants from Alabama Prison Arts and Education Program, Prison Creative Arts Project at the University of Michigan, PUEG Center at UNAM (National University of Mexico), William James Association, and many others.
In addition to the conference, IRW is organizing a curated exhibition of art by current and formerly incarcerated individuals, as well as works made in collaboration with non-incarcerated artists and community organizations.  IRW has partnered with Alfa Art Gallery, Rutgers Art Library, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Heldrich Hotel, New Brunswick Public Library, and the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers to display art in the City of New Brunswick for most of the month of October.  A range of photography, painting, video, and sculpture will be on view. The exhibitions seek to examine, explore, and highlight the visual art and practices emerging inside prisons and about prison life.
“There is a huge gap between the dominant public perception of prisoners – as lacking in value – and their humanity and productivity, as individuals who dream and envision brighter futures and as cherished ones whose families love and care for them.” said Dr. Fleetwood. “Prison art helps to challenge the dehumanization of the incarcerated.” 
The conference and exhibitions are free and open to the public. Please see the attached calendar for the Marking Time conference and exhibitions schedule. For more information, visit irw.rutgers.edu or email the Institute for Research on Women at [email protected].
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This program is made possible in part by a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or the New Jersey Council for the Humanities. This program is also made possible by the generous support of the Puffin Foundation Ltd. Organized by the Institute for Research on Women, the conference and multi-site exhibition co-sponsors include: Alfa Art Gallery; American Friends Service Committee’s Prison Watch Program; Art Library-Rutgers New Brunswick; Associate Campus Dean of Douglass Residential College; Center for Social Justice Education and LGBT Communities; Department of American Studies, Rutgers-New Brunswick; Heldrich Hotel; Department of History, Rutgers-New Brunswick; Institute for Women and Art, Mountainview Program; New Brunswick Public Library; Office of the Chancellor of Rutgers-New Brunswick; Office of the Executive Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers-New Brunswick; Prison Creative Arts Project at the University of Michigan; PUEG Center at UNAM (National University of Mexico); Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts; School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers-Newark; William James Association; Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers-New Brunswick.
List of Events
Conference Schedule Highlights
The complete schedule and location code are available at http://irw.rutgers.edu/programs/spring-colloquia
Oct 8, 2014
9:30am-4:00pm: Panels and workshops by various scholars, artists, activists, and educators
5:30pm-6:30pm: Artist Talk: Jesse Krimes at Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers—New Brunswick
7:30pm-9:00pm: Keynote Speaker Dwayne Reginald Betts at Kirkpatrick Chapel
Oct 9, 2014
9:30am-5:30pm: Panels and workshops by various scholars, artists, activists, and educators
5:45pm-6:45pm: Reception and Networking event at New Brunswick Public Library
7:00-9:00pm: Artist Talk: Russell Craig, Dean Gillispie, Deborah Luster at Alfa Art Gallery
Oct 10, 2014
9:30am-4:00pm: Panels and workshops by various scholars, artists, activists, and educators
6:30pm-9:00pm: Evening Performances
Tales from the Cell, Mountainview Program  
The Peculiar Patriot, Liza Jessie Peterson
Women on Our Own, acapella group of formerly incarcerated musicians
Art Exhibition Dates:
Alfa Art Gallery
Prison Obscura Exhibition
In collaboration with Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery and Campus Exhibitions and curator Matthew Seamus Callinan
Dates: Oct 7, 2014 – Nov 1, 2014
Gallery Hours: Tues- Sat 11am-6pm
Free Admission
Art Library-Rutgers
Paintings, backdrops and photographs by a range of artists
Dates: Oct 1, 2014 – Oct 31, 2014
Hours: Mon – Thurs 8:30 am – 10 pm; Fri – 8:30 am – 5 pm; Sat 10 am – 5 pm; Sun 2 pm – 10 pm
Free Admission
Eagleton Lawn
Mark Strandquist’s Windows from Prison (public art exhibition)
Dates: Oct 7 – 26, 2014
Hours: all day
Free Admission
Heldrich Hotel
Paintings, prints, and photographs by a range of artists
Dates: Oct 1- Oct 31, 2014
Gallery Hours: Normal business hours
Free Admission
New Brunswick Public Library
Paintings, three-dimensional art, and photographs by a range of artists
Dates: Oct 1-Oct 26, 2014
Hours: Mon – Thurs 10 am to 9 pm; Fri & Sat 10 am to 5 pm; Sun 1 pm to 5 pm
Free Admission
Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers-New Brunswick
Jesse Krimes: Apokaluptein:16389067
Dates: Sept 2, 2014- Dec 14, 2014
Museum Hours:  Tues- Fri 10am-4:30pm; Sat-Sun noon-5pm; Art After Hours: First Tuesdays (open to the public), Tues, Oct 7, 5pm-9pm
Free Admission