For 15 years, photographer Peter Merts has documented people who are incarcerated as they participate in prison arts programs. The portraits, which have been released in Merts’ new book, Ex Crucible: The Passion of Incarcerated Artists, reveal new perspectives about the limits of the carceral system as well as the power of the arts. One such image depicts the theater class at Ironwood State Prison and focuses …
This Spring, Silver Art Projects—a non-profit organization that supports overlooked artists—will open applications for its third round of year-long residencies, offering studio space at the World Trade Center, stipends and mentorships for disadvantaged artists. A quarter of the creatives chosen will be formerly incarcerated people. “It just made sense to bring in formerly incarcerated artists as a focused community that could be working alongside all …
In a powerful series of photographs, Travis Gillett lets viewers inside a little-known world. The project, called “Freedom Behind Bars: Angola Prison Rodeo,” is made up of portraits and action shots, and all are captured with an almost tangible tenderness. Started back in ’64, the Angola Prison Rodeo at Louisiana State Penitentiary is meant to give inmates (of whom 75% will never leave the prison) …
