UW to Host Symposium and Exhibition Exploring Prison Art and Incarceration

The University of Wyoming, in collaboration with Paño Connections Traveling Prison Art Exhibition and Programming, will feature a series of events both on campus and off Thursday-Friday, Sept. 25-26, and Friday, Oct. 17.

The main events include a keynote lecture by Nicole Fleetwood, a MacArthur Fellow and the Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University; a Wyoming Pathways from Prison luncheon; and a prison art exhibition titled “Paño Connections: Vast Horizons/Confined Spaces.”

Fleetwood is a nationally recognized author, curator and art critic whose work examines Black art, aesthetics, documentary studies and activism. She is the author of “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration” and winner of several national book awards. Fleetwood also is the curator of the traveling exhibition, “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration,” which debuted at MoMA PS1, an art institute in Queens, N.Y.

She will deliver a lecture Thursday, Sept. 25, from 4-5 p.m. in Room 57 of UW’s Business Building. A book signing will follow.

The Wyoming Pathways from Prison luncheon will be held Friday, Sept. 26, from noon-2 p.m. in Room 219 of the Classroom Building. The event will highlight educational initiatives; honor faculty and students; and recognize Wyoming Department of Corrections educational coordinators. Thomas Rivera, who was formerly incarcerated and is Wyoming artist, will be one of the featured speakers.

To center the lives, voices and creativity of the incarcerated, a key feature of this symposium is the two-part prison art exhibition series, “Paño Connections: Vast Horizons/Confined Spaces.” It is a traveling exhibition and programming initiative that fosters dialogue and rehabilitation through works created by incarcerated, formerly incarcerated and families of incarceration.

The permanent collection includes traditional prison folk art, such as paños and crafts, as well as fine art and a diverse range of media sourced from its environment -- reflecting the unique ingenuity and resilience of carceral art and culture.

Featured works in this two-part series include works from the nationally recognized “Conviction Series” by artist and chief curator Eric Christo Martinez; art and poetry from individuals incarcerated across Wyoming’s five correctional facilities -- including students in the Pathways from Prison program; Wyoming residents housed in out-of-state facilities; and formerly incarcerated Wyoming artists.

The exhibition will be on display at two Laramie locations:

-- Gorgon Gallery, Laramie Plains Civic Center, Sept. 12-Oct. 5. A public reception with light refreshments will be held Sept. 26 from 5-7 p.m.

-- Wyoming Territorial Prison, Oct. 17-31. A dinner and panel presentation will take place Oct. 17 from 5-8 p.m.

These events are sponsored by the Wyoming Pathways from Prison Program, UW Department of Cultural Studies, UW Honors College, Devine Law, UW Department of Criminal Justice and Sociology, and ALCES Community Works.

The events are free and open to the public.

For more information, email UW Department of American Cultural Studies Assistant Professor Trish Martinez at tmarti40@uwyo.edu.