The Alva deMars Megan Chapel Art Center at Saint Anselm College will present “Interrupted Life, Incarcerated Mothers in the United States,” an exhibition of art that explores the impact of incarceration on inmate mothers and their families, from Jan. 25 through Feb. 21.
The exhibit’s paintings, drawings, sculpture and photography were created by professional artists and incarcerated women in 38 facilities across the nation, including New Hampshire. The artworks will travel for two years among 18 college campuses nationwide, as well as to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.
Saint Anselm will accompany the exhibit with a series of guest lectures and panel discussions. “The Incarceration Epidemic: Justice for Whom?” will explore the facts and experiences of incarceration in the United States. The exhibit and all programs are free and open to the public.
Rickie Solinger, an award winning author and director/curator of WAKEUP/Arts, will open the art exhibit by discussing “Making Incarceration Visible: Art, Exhibition, Social Justice, and Mothers in U.S. Prisons.” She will speak Thursday, Jan. 24, at 5 p.m. in the gallery, where a reception will follow from 6 to 8 p.m.
On Thursday, Jan. 31, at 5 p.m. in Chapel Art, Russ Immarigeon, editor of Women, Girls & Criminal Justice, will discuss “Challenging the Overuse of Incarceration in New England.” Phyllis Kornfeld, author of Cellblock Visions: Prison Art in America, will speak Thursday, Feb. 7, at 5 p.m. in Chapel Art.
Anne Burgess, professor of psychiatric mental health nursing at Boston College, will discuss “False Imprisonment” Thursday, Feb. 21, at 1 p.m. in the New Hampshire Institute of Politics Auditorium.
The art exhibit and related programming are sponsored by the Ford Foundation and the Consortium on Justice and Society at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm. Contact Denise Reagan, 641-7034 or dreagan@anselm.edu, to arrange for group attendance at any event. For more information on the exhibit and related programming, please go to www.anselm.edu/interruptedlife.