Prison Reimagined
An exhibition-based, community advocacy initiative featuring artwork & writing by incarcerated artists critiquing the US Justice System.
Prison Reimagined: Presidential Portrait Project on view:
President Lincoln's Cottage (with Justice Arts Coalition), Washington, D.C.
January 5 - February 19, 2024Workhouse Arts Center, Lorton, VA
January 18 - March 12, 2025
Wistariahurst Museum, Holyoke, MA
April 15-July 31, 2025Indy Art Center, Indianapolis, IN
August-October, 2025
To Those Who Have Been Impacted By Harm
A Message from the Committee of Incarcerated Artists and Writers:Many of the incarcerated people involved with this project have caused harm to others, and we acknowledge our actions and the harm we have caused.While advocating for an immediate shift towards decarceration in American prisons, we also firmly advocate for a pathway to healing for those who have suffered harm. This path should prioritize the well-being and empowerment of those affected, surpassing the limitations of the current systems’ established procedures.[We seek] to create responses to violence that do what criminal punishment systems fail to do: build support and more safety for the person harmed, figure out how the broader context was set up for this harm to happen, and how the context can be changed so this harm is less likely to happen again.Transformative justice…is not grounded in punitive justice, and it actually requires us to challenge our punitive impulses, while prioritizing healing, repair, and accountability.We would immediately focus on addressing the harms perpetrated, centering on the concerns and experiences of the person who was harmed. Next, we would focus on the person responsible for the harm – but without disregarding their humanity. This means we have to acknowledge the reality that often it is hurt people who hurt other people. Understanding that harm originates from situations dominated by stress, scarcity, and oppression, one way to prevent violence is to make sure that people have support to get the things they need. We must also create a culture that enables people to actually take accountability for violence and harm.- Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes, We Do This ‘Till We Free Us
The Prison Reimagined Story
My name is Caddell Kivett and I'm writing to you from inside Franklin Correctional, the prison where I live in Central North Carolina.In the work that I do, writing and organizing from prison, I have a few specific objectives: I work to amplify the voices of people behind bars and to build bridges between incarcerated and free communities. Sharing our stories can help the free public better understand the carceral experience. When we recognize the people behind bars, only then can we acknowledge and connect in our shared humanity.I work to help people understand the history of mass incarceration so we can find a better way to address crime, harm, and violence. Simply locking people away with impossibly-long prison sentences and little rehabilitation is not making us safer, stronger, or better as a nation. We could - and should - do better for victims who are harmed, for those who commit harm, and for the communities we live in.*In January 2021, I was sitting in my prison cell — we had just watched President Biden's inauguration — and, surrounded by artists at the prison where I lived, I had an improbable idea: Let's have incarcerated artists draw portraits of our presidents, then invite those subjects to see what we had drawn. This, I knew, if staged in proper context would make for powerful commentary on mass incarceration and criminal punishment in America. We would include written works by incarcerated writers and extend the invitation to people serving time all across the country.With just this idea, and unsure where to start, I thought about connections I had made while working for The Nash News, a quarterly publication conceived, designed and written entirely by incarcerated men at Nash Correctional Institution. In seven years, I had worked my way up from book reviewer to reporter, and then to assistant editor. In 2019 we published an article about Justice Arts Coalition and the outreach work they do with incarcerated artists. So I drafted a letter to Wendy Jason, founder of Justice Arts, and we began to exchange ideas about how to launch PRP3. They assigned an intern to work with me and we began to explore potential venues in the nation's capital, and we faced many hurdles and challenges, eventually losing momentum to a second wave of Covid-19.Still, I kept pushing forward.In the early months of 2022, Janie Ritter came onboard through the Justice Arts Coalition, and with renewed motivation we continued our search for a venue partner. One location on our radar was President Lincoln's Cottage — they had expressed a prior interest, and so a conference call was scheduled. After that successful conversation, and with the enthusiasm and support of the whole team at President Lincoln's Cottage, we secured a venue.*From the beginning, I looked to include as many incarcerated people in as many ways possible — and to have them fully centered in the project.Our process was as follows:
We distributed calls for submissions to prisons throughout the country, and at my camp I assembled a group of experienced artists and writers to jury and curate the project. This panel became the Committee of Incarcerated Artists and Writers. We received entries from 13 states, and once they arrived at the Justice Arts office, Janie made digital copies, then sent packets of the art and writing to each committee member at my prison. The committee met twice weekly and we discussed every submission at length. Committee members graded each work based on a set of parameters that ranged from: interpretation of the project theme and creativity, to overall quality and artistic application. Grades were averaged and tallied to determine what would make the show. We selected 23 visual and 23 written works, to represent 46 presidents.When the committee disagreed — as we often did — we held a discussion, took a vote, and inevitably came to what was best for the project. The entire selection and curating process, over the course of two months, was empowering, illuminating, transformative and restorative for the men involved.*I encourage everyone to reconsider any default assumptions they have about our criminal punishment system, how it functions, and the people who work and live within. And to think about ways you can get involved in these conversations.As Prison Reimagined moves forward at other venues and with new projects, we'll use what we've learned as a model for future endeavors. I didn't set out to create a first-of-its-kind exhibition. My goal was to feature the work of incarcerated artists in a prominent, public-facing museum, and to utilize the platform to educate people about mass incarceration. The goal is to affect the attitudes, and ultimately the policies that determine how we address crime in our country. Through the collaborative work of Justice Arts Coalition, President Lincoln's Cottage, Workhouse Arts Center, and the artists and writers from across the country, we have and will continue to make strides in this work.Let me leave you with this:
For incarcerated artists to not only show at a national historic site or museum, but to showcase our work in what was once the summer retreat and a place to think for one of our most consequential presidents; to feature a portrait of our first Black president, which was displayed in the room where President Lincoln drafted the Emancipation Proclamation, made by a Black artist who remains behind bars – these things all represent a deeper, full-circle form of inclusion with more weight and significance than I can easily express.But this work remains, unfinished.Thank you.
PRP3 at President Lincoln's Cottage (1/5-2/19 2024)
With support from the Art for Justice Fund
PRP3 at Workhouse Arts Center (1/18-3/12 2025)
Workhouse Campus and Galleries
W, Th, F, Sat: 11 AM – 6 PM
Sun: Noon – 5 PM
PRP3 at Wistariahurst Museum (4/8-7/1 2025)
With support from the City of Holyoke, Mass Cultural Council, and the Wistariahurst Foundation
