Once the images are produced and given to the corresponding prisoners, the images are blown up on banners and publicly exhibited to spark dialogue and action around criminal justice issues. Since starting the project as an undergraduate project at VCU in the fall of 2012, Windows From Prison has expanded into interactive exhibits in several states, a national postcard-exchange program, a high school curriculum, and various public installations that have brought thousands of individuals together with prisoners across the country. The project was recently produced with Parsons and the New School in NYC and is being funded by the US Embassy for a version in Ottawa, CA. Beyond impacting direct participants through a highly collaborative process, the project has received multiple awards, fellowships, and reached wide audiences through the NY Times, the Guardian, the Washington Post, PBS Newshour, and a multitude of other media outlets.
The exhibit creates out a space for students, formerly incarcerated individuals, policy/justice activists, artists, and community members to come together to connect across difference and re-imagine the criminal justice system. The public exhibitions include an expansive set of public programs, events, debates, and brainstorming sessions (see past examples below).
Mirroring the project’s ethos, the exhibit doesn't seek to impose information upon a community, but to create avenues and space for local knowledge to emerge, complicate, and activate the project’s artistic and civic potential.
The exhibit creates out a space for students, formerly incarcerated individuals, policy/justice activists, artists, and community members to come together to connect across difference and re-imagine the criminal justice system. The public exhibitions include an expansive set of public programs, events, debates, and brainstorming sessions (see past examples below).
Mirroring the project’s ethos, the exhibit doesn't seek to impose information upon a community, but to create avenues and space for local knowledge to emerge, complicate, and activate the project’s artistic and civic potential.
PAST EXHIBITS
SOUNDS
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EVENT FLYERS
Unless otherwise noted, all Images by Mark Strandquist. All audio by Reid May. All events realized through the help of many many wonderful people.