Jackie Sumell shares her experience being mentored by Herman Wallace of the Angola 3. This mentorship led her to create The Solitary Gardens, a work of performance art exploring the intersection of gardening and criminal justice reform. She shares insights into how art can be used for social activism.

Sherrill Roland discusses how being incarcerated in a federal jail inspired him to start The Jumpsuit Project, a work of performance art born out of his thesis proposal at the University of North Carolina.

© Sherrill Roland

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Yukari Kane describes her time working for the journalism guild at San Quentin State Prison. She also describes the organization that she co-founded, the Prison journalism Project. She goes into depth about the experiences of incarcerated writers in and outside prisons.

Jack shares his experiences working with Prison Visitation and Support. He describes the process he had to go through to be accepted as a visitor by the prison, as well as the differences between state and federal prisons. In addition to PVS, Jack also shares his experience with donating books to incarcerated people.

Ricardo Cortés discusses how his art practice as an illustrator and author has shaped his view of criminal justice reform. He shares insights into his experience with residency at Rikers Island, in Queens, NY, and his subsequent encounters with centers of incarceration.

¬© Ricardo Cortés

A formerly incarcerated individual describes how he served many years in federal prison because of a drug-related offense. He missed out on seeing his children grow up and now advocates for reform within the prison system.

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