

To correlate wasteful living and wasted lives is the concept that from what is considered trash; something forgotten; considered useless can be reshaped [into] a beautiful work of art, both meaningful and magnificent. By using throw-away items (non-biodegradable products; disposable packaging materials) as component or canvas in my creations, I hope to exemplify the idea that we can use innovation to redefine what we consider trash, begin to be conscientious, to produce and support Earth friendly alternative materials and packaging, treating the Earth as non-disposable containing every form of essential non-disposable Life, humans included. Purpose and beauty may yet be derived from what society has chosen to throw away. Ultimately in our fight for the Earth and each other, we must do our best to allow our innovative spirit to persevere.


Ms. Baxter is also 2017 Soze Right of Return Fellow, 2018 and 2019 Mural Arts Philadelphia Reimagining Reentry Fellow, 2019 Leeway Foundation Transformation Awardee, 2021 Ed Trust Justice Fellow, 2021 SheaMoisture and GOOD MIRRORS Emerging Visionary grantee and 2021 Frieze Impact Prize award winner.


Bivona is a doctoral student at Columbia University, Teachers College and co-founded the prison diversion printshop with Recess | Assembly.

Through this process I started to make pieces that I felt that I could share with family and friends. Those people enjoyed the art I was making while in the SHU and they in turn shared it with more people. The next thing I know my past-time is up on an internet gallery for the whole world to see. To me it was hard to understand but at the same time it was encouraging me to become a better artist. I now had a way to express myself and I also had people that were listening.
Then something developed through this journey that I would have never predicted; I began taking an interest in helping others realize their artist abilities. Some fellow inmates have had no experience at all in artistic expression while others were artists that just might benefit from something new. This brought me a bunch of joy. The experience of helping someone grow in their abilities or to discover a “hidden” talent is one of the most wonderful feelings because it is a triumph that both the teacher and student can enjoy.
At this point I understood that art can be used as a tool both in and outside of prison. A tool that gives people a place to go to when they are angry or happy, feeling lonely or just want to be alone. Some of my fellow inmates are not good at expressing themselves yet they can now through a brush or pencil. That is important. Important because the conversations that are taking place outside in the free world, about prison and the people that live within, need to have representations of the humanity that struggle on the inside. Artwork sparks those conversations. So for me art is much more about the visual combination of various elements, it is more than any technical style, composition or subject. It is about impact and what is communicated through connections made with the viewer. The butterfly effect is real and I would like to think that I have been caught up in its winds thanks to the very creative people in my family.
First off my gratitude to the Justice Arts Coalition team, with all their amazing support and the great friendship that I found within this great collection of people. Then there are my parents who always encouraged communication through artistic expression. My aunt Rebecca and uncle Craig for their unwavering support and networking abilities. Thanks to all the people who I have been able to build connections with throughout this journey. And most importantly the number one inspiration who compelled me to embrace art, following in his footsteps, my granddad, Giles. To the creative people that have influenced my life both before and during my prison sentence. Maybe my work can inspire something great in someone else, if that is the case, I feel that I am doing my part to make a better community that I will be released back to.






the William James Association as the Communications and Programs Assistant and Teaching Artist at California Medical Facility (CMF). I use my art to make the Native American and currently/formally incarcerated visible as a human being and contributing member of society. My connection and coexistence within the natural world, my heritage, my culture and experience inspire and shapes my artistic expression. I draw from my childhood, my spiritual practice, my memories of my incarceration, living as a Native American in today’s society. Art has been mytherapist, my freedom, my connection with my heritage and a tool for introspection.














The portrait project he started in prison in 2014 – Pyrrhic Defeat: A Visual Study of Mass Incarceration – now numbers over 800 faces. For viewers, this overwhelming visual effect of 800 individual portraits undermines the legal and social stigmas imposed on imprisoned individuals. For subjects, each portrait reflects the selfhood and agency denied to them by the incapacitation of the American prison system. Ultimately, Pyrrhic Defeat gives voice to the stories, personal histories, and identities impacted by over-policing and confinement in this era of mass incarceration.





Ndume also became an avid reader while in imprisoned. He completed his GED while on death row, took some college courses, became a certified paralegal, and eventually worked as a law clerk in the prison law library helping others with their legal problems.


Owens’ current and recent exhibitions include “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration” at MoMA PS1 in New York (2021); “Rendering Justice” at the African American Museum of Art in Philadelphia (2021); “The O.G. Experience” in partnership with HBO and SOZE in Chelsea, NYC (2019); “Made in America: Unfree Labor in the Age of Mass Incarceration” at Hampshire College, Amhurst, NH; “Black Bone: Affrilachian Poets and Visual Artists” at Morlan Gallery, Transylvania University, Lexington, KY (both 2017). In 2020 he received a Right of Return Fellowship from SOZE Agency and in 2019 a Restorative Justice grant from Philadelphia Mural Arts to create a mural with teenagers under court supervision; in 2016-17 he was the recipient of a grant from the Eastern State Penitentiary to produce “Sepulture,” a large-scale installation. He is a 2021-22 Fellow at Silver Arts Projects














