Gallery Description

The gallery's ongoing work represents a historic and unprecedented set of collaborations between currently and formerly incarcerated people with members of the Boston University community. 

The three gallery components are outlined below. 

Featured Artists

 Currently and formerly incarcerated artists and activists we have featured and engaged with throughout this project.
​
(You can learn about more artists using the artists tab at the top of the page.)

Original Responses

​Original artworks responding to stories, conversations, and artworks of our featured artists in order to honor & illuminated their stories and reflect upon systems of injustice. 

6 word memoirs 

Throughout the gallery you will see responses from our participants in the form of the "six word memoirs" that are reflecting on the featured artists' stories and injustice in America. 

​FEATURED COLLABORATORS

Click on each image to be taken to each artists' page, which features their bio and samples of their artistic work. 
top row L-R: Wayland "X" Coleman, Truth, Onyx White, and Amos Don

"Create to be the heart's mouthpiece"
​- Truth


​(​scroll to see additional pages)

Caged Bird
by Wayland "X" Coleman

This work was created in response to "why the caged bird sings" theme, which was the focus of an Empowering Song course led by André and Judy at MCI Norfolk. 

 Wayland is currently incarcerated at MCI Shirley. 
​Learn more about Wayland on his artist page, here.

My Way 2 Music
by Kadeem Foreman

Kadeem was a student of the empowering song class in the fall of 2022 and created this work as part of a culminating project on the theme of One Sky, Many Destinies.
​
Kadeem  is currently incarcerated at MCI Norfolk.

Cognac Tears
by Amos Don

Amos submitted this poem specially for inclusion in this year's gallery. 

Amos is currently incarcerated at MCI Norfolk and you can learn more about him and his other works of poetry on his artist's page, here. ​

All That Shall Be and One Sky, Many Destinies Reflections 
​by Bryan Grassie

Bryan was a student of the empowering song class in the fall of 2022 and created this work as part of a culminating project on the theme of One Sky, Many Destinies. 

Bryan is currently incarcerated at MCI Norfolk.
(click photos to enlarge)
(click photos to enlarge)

One Sky Encompassing All 
by Daniel LaPlante

Daniel was a student of the empowering song class in the fall of 2022 and created this work as part of a culminating project on the theme of One Sky, Many Destinies.

​Daniel is currently incarcerated at MCI Norfolk.

​One Sky, Many Destinies reflection & poem
​by Hamza

Hamza was a student of the empowering song class in the fall of 2022 and created this work as part of a culminating project on the theme of One Sky, Many Destinies. 

Hamza is currently incarcerated at MCI Norfolk.

​​(Scroll to see additional pages)
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​(Scroll to see additional pages)

Reflection & Poems 
by Thomas Jeffreys

Thomas was a student of the empowering song class in the fall of 2022 and created this work as part of a culminating project on the theme of One Sky, Many Destinies. 

Thomas is currently incarcerated at MCI Norfolk.

Untitled
​by Peter Castillo

​Kadeem was a student of the empowering song class in the fall of 2022 and created this work as part of a culminating project on the theme of One Sky, Many Destinies.
​
Kadeem is currently incarcerated at MCI Norfolk.

​​(Scroll to see additional pages)

​​​(Scroll to see additional pages)

To Whom It May Concern 
by Hector Soto

​Hector was a student of the empowering song class in the fall of 2022 and created this work as part of a culminating project on the theme of One Sky, Many Destinies.
​
​Hector is currently incarcerated at MCI Norfolk.
The following pieces each reflect on the theme,

​"One Sky, Many Destinies"

One Sky
by Erin Hogan 
​​in response to the theme: One Sky, Many Destinies

When I look up at the sky, I sometimes am astounded to know that we all see the same moon, the same sun, the same stars. Every single person on the planet lives under the same sky, yet we experience wildly different lives. The sky, or even nature, provides me with the ability to "zoom out" with ideas like this - we are all more connected to each other than we can imagine.

"do you see me?"
by Tia Perkins
​​in response to the theme: "One Sky, Many Destinies"

​This poem explores the book’s theme of “One Sky, Many Destinies” by reflecting on the importance of that connection and shared understandings from the point of view of an incarcerated individual.

“Disrupt complacency, draw attention to discord”

Untitled Collection
​by Sadie Habas
in response to the theme: One Sky, Many Destinies

See final image in the collection for descriptions of all pieces.  
(click images to enlarge)
(click photos to enlarge)

Response to One Sky Many, Destinies theme
by Jaedin Guldenstern

Untitled Collection
by Cindy Zhou
in response to the theme: One Sky, Many Destinies

First image - Opposites are not as separate as they seem. Isolation is the real danger.

Second image - ​Prison cells take away one's space and privacy. Dreamers are forced to create that for themselves.

Third image - Birds share one sky, but share different fates.

Fourth image - Forensic evidence has been manipulated in a number of ways, either by faulty testing, outdated application, or misleading interpretation by courts, leading to wrongful convictions. It is important for the field to correctly assess when forensic intervention is necessary, where the uncertainties in the results are, and how to document and preserve evidence for future review.
(click photos to enlarge)

Untitled Collection 
​by Julie Lee
​in response to the theme: One Sky, Many Destinies

The theme for the book — "One sky, many destinies" — served as the main inspiration for this piece.
For the first image, I thought about how, despite your hardships, life goes on and it's up to you to make the most of it. For the second image, I was also largely inspired by Truth and Onyx's stories and how they used art as an outlet for their voices to be heard. For the third image, though it is the third of this sequence, it was the first drawing I made for the book project. I was thinking about how there are so many people in the world with each living a different life. For the fourth image, I was juggling a bunch of responsibilities — going to work, attending classes, doing assignments, finishing projects, figuring out summer internships, doing work for my extracurriculars — and I was thinking about how much easier life would be as a rock. This experience and the theme "One sky, many destinies" inspired me to make this comic.

More details on each piece can be read in the fifth image of the collection.  

"Vivid pictures demolish walls, pursue liberation"

Untitled 
by Jayce Ross 
in response to the theme: "One Sky, Many Destinies"

A hand-cut and designed collage inspired by the quote "one sky, many destinies." We all live underneath one sky, yet a single word, action, or event can entirely change the trajectory of our lives forever.

Impossible Reach
​by Alex Norberg
in response to the theme: "One Sky, Many Destinies"

​The first page is a direct response to the theme: “one sky, many destinies”. The red stripes of the sideways American flag represent the bars restricting a person who is incarcerated. They are reaching up to the stars of the flag, which are nearly impossible to obtain.

"Remember me as a person" 
​by Collaborative Arts Incubator Class '23
in response to Wayland

The video focuses on the role that art played in Wayland's life and how art is used as a form of expression by people in prison.

​The main visual aspect of the video will is a recording of a movement piece that Jayce made based on Jaedin's painting. Tia, Olivia, and Jaedin made art pieces based on a piece of music that includes Erin and Sadie singing, Alex playing cello, and Maddie playing piano. Cindy compiled their music pieces with a recording of a phone call with Wayland Coleman. Julie edited and compiled everything together into the video. 
The following pieces reflect on exchanges with

Wayland, Truth, Onyx, and our visits with

​individuals at Suffolk Jail

"this can't be home"
by Tia Perkins
​​in response to Wayland Coleman's "My Body Was Left On the Street"

This poem explores themes of home from the perspective of an incarcerated individual who was a victim of generational incarceration and the school to prison pipeline. 

Bracelet
​by Olivia Kleyman
​​in response to Truth

My mother prayed for my innocence
​by Alex Norberg, Sadie Habas, Olivia Kleyman
in response to Truth

We are three Boston University students, each with differing academic pursuits and artistic backgrounds; including cello performance, vocal performance, political science, and education. Thus, collaborating on this work and including our varying mediums was a powerful way to portray our deep appreciation for learning about Truth's story.

​This sound and movement piece is a reaction to a live performance of words from Truth. The specific line that resonates with us was "I rely on my mother to mourn my innocence." In our performance, Olivia Kleyman sits in a chair, representing a flower struggling to bloom while enduring constant weather: the sounds and effects of Alex Norberg playing cello. Sadie Habas represents the mourning of a mother, personified by the warmth and persistence of the Sun.

Untitled Poem
by Madailein Burger
​​in response to Onyx White

This poem was inspired by Onyx White's experience, endurance, and music. When Onyx White told us about when he read through the legal work for his case it sounded as tiring as climbing a wall and he inspired me to write this poem.

Life Without Parole
by Vincent Samudovsky
in response to Truth​

This poem was written during a Race, Prison, Justice Arts online session in response to a discussion with Truth. After the poem, Vincent offers a reflection about his experience with Truth that provoked this work. 

​(scroll to see additional pages)

"remember me (as a person)"
by Tia Perkins
​​in response to Wayland "X" Coleman

This piece takes Wayland’s statement, “remember me as a person but forget my fate,” and pairs it with an image of a distorted face to show the intensity of emotion felt by those incarcerated and previously incarcerated.

Untitled Watercolor 
by Madailein Burger
​​in response to Wayland "X" Coleman

This is inspired by Wayland X Coleman's work as an activist and advocator. His passion is something that can't be encapsulated by the prison system. Through the use of watercolors that flow across the page, independent of the rigid lines that seem to control them, I tried to represent Wayland's power that transcends the control of incarceration.

“finding freedom: a fool’s errand”

Backpack Paintings and Reflection​
​by Vincent Samudovsky

See reflection (fourth image) for context. 
​
First painting: 
The Sound (Breeze)
Oil on canvas
18x24 inches

Second Painting:
Sinking Feeling
Oil on canvas
18x24 inches

Third Painting:
Founda5on (Embracing the Landscape)
Oil on canvas
18x24 inches
(click photos to enlarge)
(click photos to enlarge)

Zine for Onyx
by Maddie Burger, Julie Lee, Tia Perkins
in response to Onyx

Maddie, Tia, and Julie created a zine based on Onyx's visit to the Collaborative Arts Incubator. They wanted to capture that they heard and talked about with Onyx into a zine. They created pages inspired by Onyx's story (including a poem, a drawing, and more)!

Tree Trunks
by Jaedin Guldenstern
​​in response to various incarcerated artists

"Bearing witness" is a phrase I often think about. What does it mean to bear? To witness in our entirety? What are we holding space and reflection for? This painting is a reflection on the multitudes of experience we collectively share in the sacred spaces created by the Race Prison Justice Arts program. I painted this with audio recordings of phone calls, poetry, and music from time I spent with people who are/were incarcerated. The painting is a container for the expansion of seeing humanity in one another: a spot to curl up in, to grieve through, and to have faith.

Response to Onyx
​By: Erin Hogan, Sadie Habas, Cindy Zhou, Jaedin Guldenstern

For this work, the four of us created a collaborative poem that is compiled of four separate pieces based on our visit with Onyx White.  As a group, we were deeply moved by Onyx's personal story and the music he vulnerably shared with us about his experiences being formerly incarcerated.

​We are four Boston University students, all with differing academic pursuits and artistic mediums; including classical voice, political science, sociology, visual art, biochemistry and molecular biology. Because of our varying educational and artistic backgrounds, we each took different approaches in our individual poems which enhanced the collaborative piece.
​
(click photos to enlarge)

"I wanted more than that,"  Hummingbird, & Unfair Start
​​by Alex Norberg​
​​​in response to Onyx, Truth, and Wayland

​The 3 pages are inspired by my takeaways from each of our conversations with Onyx White, Truth, and Wayland Coleman. They are tied together across 3 pages by a single quote from Wayland. Page 2 depicts the innocence of childhood through a swing-set, only it is in the middle of the street, representing void of innocence of kids who feel safer on the streets than in their own homes. Page 3 depicts a silhouette figure of a person sitting in a dark room, likely incarcerated in a cell- this is drawn from each of our guest speakers describing living in their mind and through their art while incarcerated. Page 4 depicts the full release of the pent-up color from the previous page through the beauty of a freeness and color of a hummingbird. ​

Tree Roots
by Jayce Ross
in response to Truth

During our conversation with Truth, he mentioned how he "had forgotten what the trunk of a tree looked like." This hit me profoundly, as we take little details of life for granted. Roots and trunks are some of the most complex and strong foundations on the planet, an essential image of life. It's such a jarring concept to think of something so ordinary suddenly vanishing from your sight for decades. ​

​Somebody 
by Caroline McCord

My piece, "Somebody," is a protest against stories of women subjected to violence or oppression who are then characterized and humanized through their relations to others — ie, "she was somebody's daughter, she was somebody's girlfriend, she was somebody's mom." I reject the idea that women are only valuable through their connection to others or through their societal role. All women are Somebody, full stop, and so deserve to be honored, respected, remembered, and fought for as human beings in their own right. This piece is meant to uphold and celebrate the individual identities and selves of women from all different walks of life and communities. And even though this is solely a visual piece, I hope it also metaphorically gives voice to women all around the world existing under — or lost to — patriarchy. ​

Untitled Collage
​​by Olivia Kleyman
​​in response to various incarcerated artists

Made in collaboration with Tia, Jaedin, Julie, Jayce

No Mud No Lotus
​by Erin Hogan
​​in response to Onyx, Truth, and Wayland 

Inspired by the work of Thich Nhat Hanh, I decided to use an image of the lotus flower. Lotus flowers, while incredibly beautiful, only grow only in mud. This image of the lotus flower emerging from the mud reminded me of all of the people we met throughout the semester - Onyx, Truth, Wayland. They have experienced unimaginable suffering, and have been misunderstood and mistreated by society, yet they possess the beauty, intelligence, and strength that lights up entire rooms. They have transformed their suffering in their creative endeavors - and inspire us to do the same.

"Mother mourning my innocence" response
​by Julie Lee, Erin Hogan, Maddie Burger

This piece is inspired by Truth's words "mother mourning my innocence." He inspired us to think about how these words made us feel as we tried to place that feeling into a narrative.
Inspired by "Thula Klizeo" & the theme of home 

home remix 
by Olivia Kleyman 
​​in response to Home

Home is not a place.

Reunion 
​​by Julie Lee
​​in response to Home

Using Andre's prompt, I wrote a poem about home, relating it to our Race Justice Prison Project. I drew inspiration from stories I heard from our in-class guest speakers (like Onyx White) and from stories I read on the website Explanations from Exile. I based my poem very loosely on those stories.

Home
by Jaedin Guldenstern
inspired by the theme of home

 I thought a lot about what home meant to me, to nature, and to people in prison, and how we can find solace in seeing these as one embodied experience. I think the word "home" brings up something different for everybody, and it also unifies us. We all long for it.

Home
by Erin Hogan
​inspired by the theme of home

What is home? And what is home when incarcerated?

Windows
​by Madailein Burger
inspired by the theme of home

When we talked about Thula Klizeo and the idea of home, it made me think of the essence of home especially in context of a child's perspective.

This poem reflects on the idea that home can be a different thing for everybody especially in the context of children and how houses themselves have both an outside and an inside.

Where I'm From
by Vijay Fisch
​inspired by the theme of home

​​I am biracial; my mother was born in Kolkata, India and she moved to the United States at 25, and my dad’s grandparents immigrated from Ukraine. I am Jewish and my mom is Hindu. At different times in my life, I have felt more connected to different parts of my identity, but I recently realized how similar they are. Both Hinduism and Judaism preach the importance of knowledge and advocacy. My temple has a large sign which declares: “Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof”--Justice, Justice, you shall pursue. My community takes concrete action in the face of injustice.

Home 
by Sadie Habas

I am a second year undergraduate at Boston University studying vocal performance and political science. As a musician and activist, I am interested in finding the intersectionality between social justice and the arts, and discovering how they can be used to cultivate deep institutional change.

​The catalyst for this work was the inspiration and knowledge that I gained from the Arts Incubator course. In this class, I learned about race and criminal justice in light of the arts and had the pleasure of meeting and talking to formerly incarcerated folks, hearing their stories in great depth. I originally wrote this poem in response to a recent trip I took to Israel where I was able to meet Israelis my age and hear about their life experiences. However, I decided to tweak it to be representative of what home might mean for an individual who has been incarcerated or subject to another racist institutions in America.
Additional Reflections on related topics

Me in the Current Moment
by Alex Norberg
​​Self Reflection

This is a short improvisation on cello reflecting on myself in the current moment. The 4 words I used as the basis for my improv were happy, distracted, uncertain, and thankful. I am enjoying getting to experience new things and people everyday while I study at BU, but my Crohn’s disease creates a sense of uncertainty— a flare up can take over my life at any moment. Despite the uncertainty, staying hopeful and grounded always persists in the long-term over any interruptions. ​

Don't Worry, Be Happy
by Alex Norberg
​​in response to Julie Lee's "In the Current Moment" piece

This piece is my first time reconnecting with visual art after about 10 years. In middle school, I won the Art Department award and was gifted art supplies as a prize. These supplies stayed in my basement untouched for years until I finally broke them open to create this project. The inspiration is from my classmate Julie’s graphic design, in which I tried to depict the playfulness of color and doodling. This final product actually started as a piece of scratch paper where I was testing the different paints, pencils, and pastels. However, I started to like the spontaneity of the brush strokes and started to reconnect with my childhood through the familiar sensation of finger painting. After a while, I started to add too many elements and no longer liked how the piece looked. Frustrated, I decided to channel a phrase my mother used to tell me when I would get frustrated with perfectionism in art: “There are no mistakes in art”. I placed the stickers over the areas that I did not like, and the new theme of Don’t Worry, Be Happy brought the experience of creating the project full circle. ​

That's What I Know
by Leo Diamant

This song is about taking a leap of faith and being brave enough to challenge life when it challenges you.

Love is All Around
​​by Erin Hogan

André, each of our class guests, and all of my classmates were the inspiration for this work. I offer this as a token of gratitude for the inspiration they have given me. They have helped remind me that there are people doing good work in this world and inspire me to continue doing this work to help heal the wounded parts of our society.