"Moving Walls 8" Photography Exhibit at the Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute and Cultural Center
BALTIMORE—The Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute and Cultural Center of Baltimore will host part of Moving Walls 8, a traveling photography exhibit sponsored by the Open Society Institute-Baltimore, from October 6 to November 5, 2005.
The exhibition features the work of acclaimed photographer Andrew Lichtenstein in a series of photographs entitled "The True Cost of Prison," which examine the human cost of incarceration. Lichtenstein’s work includes powerful photographs of inmates and their families in New York and Texas. His photographs capture the cold realities facing newly released inmates who leave prison with little more than a bus ticket. His images also reveal the economic and emotional toll of incarceration on family members.
In addition, Baltimore nonprofits that provide prisoner re-entry services shared Lichtenstein’s photographs with former prisoners to solicit their reactions and insights. The exhibit displays their comments alongside of the photographs as “voices” from the system.
As part of Moving Walls 8, the Open Society Institute-Baltimore is sponsoring a reception and educational forum on Thursday, October 6, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The forum, "Making the Transition from Prison to Free Society," will include Lichtenstein, Rada Moss, director of the Maryland Re-Entry Partnership, and Tara Andrews, executive director of the Maryland Justice Coalition. The forum begins at 5:15 p.m.
“Over the past 30 years, the United States has embarked on an unprecedented cultural experiment, imprisoning more people for the sake of crime control than any other society in history,” says Lichtenstein, a New York City documentary photographer whose work on prisons has appeared in books, newspapers, and national news magazines. “In a relatively brief period of time, the land of the free has become a nation of inmates, and the effects of this vast penal system are now inescapable."
Free and open to the public, the event is part of Forging Open Society: Generating Ideas, Partnerships and Solutions, a series of forums convened by Open Society Institute-Baltimore to encourage community leaders with diverse perspectives to craft solutions to challenges facing the Baltimore region.
As part of the Moving Walls 8 exhibition, Lichtenstein also will exhibit photographs about death row at the Amalie Rothschild Gallery at the Creative Alliance from October 19 to October 29, 2005. This exhibition is being shown in conjunction with a criminal justice film series at the Creative Alliance, sponsored by the Open Society Institute and the Creative Alliance, which is located at 3134 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore. See www.creativealliance.org for more information.
The first film, called Deadline, will be shown at 8 p.m. on Thursday, October 20. The documentary is about Illinois Governor George Ryan’s 2003 decision to grant blanket clemency to all 167 people on death row, commuting their sentences to life without parole. A pre-screening reception will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Amalie Rothschild Gallery.
The second film, called Cruel and Unusual, will be shown at 8 p.m. on Thursday, October 27. The film is about transgendered prisoners—born male, but living as women—who are sentenced to men’s prisons, regardless of how feminine they may appear. A panel discussion follows the screening, including Dr. Dana Beyer, senior medical adviser for the National Center for Transgender Equality. Both films cost $8 and $5 for Creative Alliance members.
The Moving Walls 8 exhibitions in Baltimore are coordinated by Art on Purpose, an organization that provides art workshops, exhibitions, and programs in support of education, social justice, and community service.
The Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute and Cultural Center is located at 847 N. Howard Street in Baltimore.
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