Imagining Abolition

Imagining Abolition is an exhibition celebrating solidarity with our inside artists and in appreciation of our outside artists, organized by Returning Artists Guild (RAG).
As a group of currently and formerly incarcerated and exonerated artists, RAG approaches the work of ending mass incarceration from a variety of lived experiences within the carceral system.
They wade through the mire of “criminal justice” and bear the burden of complex trauma. Their work and creative practice hold space for revealing the nature of what they survived and space to dream about a true free future.
For this artists’ collective, abolition is about addressing the facts of the looming prison industrial complex that has not kept us safe, that sends innocent people to death row, that profits off the labor of people in captivity, and that destroys the lives of everyone who encounters it.
Abolition is also about doing the work which is why RAG artists come together to share their stories, heal community, and work together to support artists still inside the fences, until they too come home.

Participating Artists:
Reagan Baruxes, Demarlo, Joy,  Adam Kretchek, Whitney Kretchek, Mark, Terri, Todd, Kamisha Thomas, and Aimee Wissman.

Imagining Abolition will be on view June 22nd through September 14th, 2024.

Learn more about the RAG at www.thereturningartistsguild.org and @thereturningartistsguild

YARD DAY, SEPT. 14TH, 2024 12 - 6 PM

Summertime in the free world means schools out, grills are fired up, and friends and families gather to enjoy the sunshine. Summertime in prison means showering to try and cool off, waiting for ice, and smelling the smoke but never seeing the fireworks or tasting a burger. There is one day every summer, in every prison, that is something like a holiday. “Yard Day” is a handful of tickets for snacks, games in the gym and on the yard, performances, music, dancing, and most importantly, pictures with your friends, who are more like family. We hope you will join us for an outside Yard Day Saturday, September 14th, 12 - 6 PM  and celebrate the summer, family, and community, while remembering those who are not yet free and long to join us.