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| LGBT prisoners' art exhibit offers voice to the incarcerated – and 'call to action' LGBT prisoners' art exhibit offers voice to the incarcerated – and 'call to action' | |
| (about 20 hours later) | |
| Human faces and bodies, including those of Jesus, Barack Obama and Rihanna, covered the walls of the Abrons Art Center in New York’s Lower East Side on Sunday: a mural of pencil and pen, by incarcerated LGBT artists from across the United States. | Human faces and bodies, including those of Jesus, Barack Obama and Rihanna, covered the walls of the Abrons Art Center in New York’s Lower East Side on Sunday: a mural of pencil and pen, by incarcerated LGBT artists from across the United States. |
| “It’s all portraiture,” said Tatiana von Furstenberg, the exhibit’s curator. “That is what struck me the most. Everyone wants to be seen and everyone wants to be seen for who they are.” | “It’s all portraiture,” said Tatiana von Furstenberg, the exhibit’s curator. “That is what struck me the most. Everyone wants to be seen and everyone wants to be seen for who they are.” |
| Called On the Inside, the exhibit opened on Saturday and will run through December, with a goal of inspiring dialogue and action on US prisons and their 2.2 million inmates – and specifically those who identify as LGBT. Part of that goal, Von Furstenberg emphasized, was to make Americans on the outside feel more of a connection with those behind bars. “Here, there’s talent and poetry and complexity and humanity,” she said, gesturing to the artwork around her. “We can’t just stereotype and look away.” | Called On the Inside, the exhibit opened on Saturday and will run through December, with a goal of inspiring dialogue and action on US prisons and their 2.2 million inmates – and specifically those who identify as LGBT. Part of that goal, Von Furstenberg emphasized, was to make Americans on the outside feel more of a connection with those behind bars. “Here, there’s talent and poetry and complexity and humanity,” she said, gesturing to the artwork around her. “We can’t just stereotype and look away.” |
| The exhibit was the culmination of a years-long collaboration by Von Furstenberg and Black & Pink, an advocacy group for incarcerated LGBT people. TGI Justice Project, a group with a similar mission, was another partner. | The exhibit was the culmination of a years-long collaboration by Von Furstenberg and Black & Pink, an advocacy group for incarcerated LGBT people. TGI Justice Project, a group with a similar mission, was another partner. |
| The project began nearly four years ago when Von Furstenberg, a writer, film-maker and the daughter of fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, learned of Black & Pink’s pen pal program and of their newspaper, which is distributed to prisons around the country. Von Furstenberg and Black & Pink placed an ad in the paper seeking artwork, and received thousands of responses through the mail, giving a donation to the artists’ commissary accounts for accepted work. | The project began nearly four years ago when Von Furstenberg, a writer, film-maker and the daughter of fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, learned of Black & Pink’s pen pal program and of their newspaper, which is distributed to prisons around the country. Von Furstenberg and Black & Pink placed an ad in the paper seeking artwork, and received thousands of responses through the mail, giving a donation to the artists’ commissary accounts for accepted work. |
| “What initially struck me, honestly, was that this population was marginalized far before, way before they went to prison,” Von Furstenberg said. | “What initially struck me, honestly, was that this population was marginalized far before, way before they went to prison,” Von Furstenberg said. |
| The Rev Jason Lydon, the national director of Black & Pink, stressed the importance of telling the stories of LGBT inmates who often face violence, sexual assault, discrimination and prolonged solitary confinement. Their artwork gives viewers an opportunity “to ensure that this art moves us not only to feel solidarity but a call to action”, he said. | The Rev Jason Lydon, the national director of Black & Pink, stressed the importance of telling the stories of LGBT inmates who often face violence, sexual assault, discrimination and prolonged solitary confinement. Their artwork gives viewers an opportunity “to ensure that this art moves us not only to feel solidarity but a call to action”, he said. |
| A number of groups, including those involved in On the Inside, have been working to address the conditions faced by the incarcerated LGBT population. | A number of groups, including those involved in On the Inside, have been working to address the conditions faced by the incarcerated LGBT population. |
| “I think primarily what we focused on most recently really has to do with transgender prisoners in particular, just because they are at such an increased risk of violence and assault in prisons and jails,” said Amy Whelan, a senior attorney with the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Incarcerated transgender people, she said, are often housed in facilities that don’t correspond to their gender identity, have difficulty getting access to hormones and are placed in solitary confinement for prolonged periods of time. | “I think primarily what we focused on most recently really has to do with transgender prisoners in particular, just because they are at such an increased risk of violence and assault in prisons and jails,” said Amy Whelan, a senior attorney with the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Incarcerated transgender people, she said, are often housed in facilities that don’t correspond to their gender identity, have difficulty getting access to hormones and are placed in solitary confinement for prolonged periods of time. |
| Janetta Johnson, an African American transgender woman and the executive director of the TGI Justice Project, said she had been incarcerated in a men’s facility. “I constantly asked them to put me in a single cell for my safety and they kept saying you’re trying to get special privilege,” Johnson said. “I’m trying to explain to them that I’m trying to keep myself safe – I mean because I’m an African American trans woman with 38DDs. | Janetta Johnson, an African American transgender woman and the executive director of the TGI Justice Project, said she had been incarcerated in a men’s facility. “I constantly asked them to put me in a single cell for my safety and they kept saying you’re trying to get special privilege,” Johnson said. “I’m trying to explain to them that I’m trying to keep myself safe – I mean because I’m an African American trans woman with 38DDs. |
| “All the trauma I experienced, the physical and the sexual and emotional and psychological abuse I experienced, I don’t blame it on the inmates, I blame it on the system,” she said. She hoped for more ways to support their talents and prevent incarceration. | “All the trauma I experienced, the physical and the sexual and emotional and psychological abuse I experienced, I don’t blame it on the inmates, I blame it on the system,” she said. She hoped for more ways to support their talents and prevent incarceration. |
| “I do think these issues are becoming publicly known and cared about but there’s a long way to go, certainly,” Whelan said, crediting advocacy groups for increasing attention on abuses against transgender inmates and the use of solitary confinement, including in high-profile cases like Chelsea Manning’s. Von Furstenberg thought that artwork would make the topic more accessible. | “I do think these issues are becoming publicly known and cared about but there’s a long way to go, certainly,” Whelan said, crediting advocacy groups for increasing attention on abuses against transgender inmates and the use of solitary confinement, including in high-profile cases like Chelsea Manning’s. Von Furstenberg thought that artwork would make the topic more accessible. |
| Around the gallery were excerpts from artists’ letters and signs instructing visitors on how to send text messages to the artists – messages that the project will print out and mail, in line with prison protocols. | Around the gallery were excerpts from artists’ letters and signs instructing visitors on how to send text messages to the artists – messages that the project will print out and mail, in line with prison protocols. |
| In the center of the exhibit was a small room, the size of a typical solitary confinement cell. Its exterior was covered in findings and recommendations from Black & Pink’s Coming Out of Concrete Closets survey of 1,118 LGBT prisoners throughout the US, arguing for the abolishment of life sentences, the death penalty and solitary confinement along with numerous other reforms. | In the center of the exhibit was a small room, the size of a typical solitary confinement cell. Its exterior was covered in findings and recommendations from Black & Pink’s Coming Out of Concrete Closets survey of 1,118 LGBT prisoners throughout the US, arguing for the abolishment of life sentences, the death penalty and solitary confinement along with numerous other reforms. |
| Jennifer Mayo, who was released from prison last year after a forgery conviction – she called it “just art gone wrong” – was able to see her artwork, a drawing of a shirtless man in sunglasses alongside the words: “Would you look at me differently if I told you I was gay?” | Jennifer Mayo, who was released from prison last year after a forgery conviction – she called it “just art gone wrong” – was able to see her artwork, a drawing of a shirtless man in sunglasses alongside the words: “Would you look at me differently if I told you I was gay?” |
| “It’s amazing that there are people who care enough on the outside. So many people just look down on you,” Mayo said. “To see that the people who are still on the inside are being represented is an awesome experience.” | “It’s amazing that there are people who care enough on the outside. So many people just look down on you,” Mayo said. “To see that the people who are still on the inside are being represented is an awesome experience.” |
| Mayo has less time for art now that she’s working and putting in extra hours on the job. The work, she said, suits her personality and she is saving up to support her dream of sailing around the world. | Mayo has less time for art now that she’s working and putting in extra hours on the job. The work, she said, suits her personality and she is saving up to support her dream of sailing around the world. |
| “I hope that the fact that I’m doing well and present myself well will give more people a chance,” she said. She still has friends who are incarcerated, and hopes the show will inspire more compassion. “Some people just made one big mistake.” | “I hope that the fact that I’m doing well and present myself well will give more people a chance,” she said. She still has friends who are incarcerated, and hopes the show will inspire more compassion. “Some people just made one big mistake.” |