Per(Sister) puts spotlight on Louisiana’s incarcerated women

14th January 2019   ·   0 Comments

Louisiana Weekly Staff Report

The experiences and stories of Louisiana’s incarcerated women will take center stage when the Newcomb Art Museum at Tulane University debuts Per(Sister): Incarcerated Women in Louisiana. The museum will hold a grand opening for the exhibit Saturday, Jan. 19 from 2 to 8 p.m.

“The objective of this art exhibition is to informally educate our students and museum visitors on the issues that have made our state infamous and address the tremendous lack of awareness and basic knowledge on the human experience of the justice system,” said museum director Monica Ramirez-Montagut. “It is intended to share the stories of currently and formerly incarcerated women in Louisiana and shine a light on the myriad issues as identified and expressed by the women themselves.”

According to the Louisiana Department of Corrections’ most recent Briefing Book, published in June 2018, there are more than 1,800 women and more than 31,350 men incarcerated in Louisiana. Exhibit organizers point to data from the Prison Policy Initiative, which indicates that rate of incarceration of women state prisons has grown by 834 percent in the last 40 years and “more than double the pace of growth among men.”

Ramirez-Montagut said the importance of the issue led to the exhibition, which is the result of collaborating with Doflinette Martin and Syrita Steib-Martin, whose experiences as former inmates helped develop the show. Additional exhibit partners include formerly incarcerated women, Operation Restoration, Women with a Vision, Inc., scholars such as Andrea Armstrong, and curators Laura Blereau and Ramirez-Montagut.

Per(Sister) will focus on four core themes during the exhibition: the cause of female incarceration; the impact of incarcerating mothers; the physical and behavioral toll of incarceration; and re-entry challenges and opportunities.

Thirty artists from throughout the U.S. contributed to the exhibition; several New Orleans artists are also featured in the exhibit, including but not limited to, MaPó Kinnord, Lee Diegaard, L. Kasimu Harris, Devin Reynolds, Jackie Sumell, Carl Joe Williams, and Cherice Harrison-Nelson.

Per(Sister) will remain on display at the Newcomb Art Museum through July 6. The museum is free and open to the public with operating hours of Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The grand opening will feature children activities, an organization fair, panel, performance and refreshments. Additional panels, filming screenings, musical performances, free tours and other activities are also scheduled through July.

Tuesday, Jan. 29, 7 p.m.: Film screening of “Sin by Silence” and “Mothering Inside”

Saturday, Feb., 2 to 3:30 p.m.: Panel on mass incarceration, Louisiana, and the state of criminal justice in America

Saturday, Feb. 9, Noon to 2:30 p.m.: Free exhibition tour , panel with organizations started by formerly incarcerated individuals, and children’s reading circle

Friday, March 22, 6 to 8 p.m.: Musical performances of commissioned songs inspired by Per(Sisters) featured in the exhibit

Saturday, March 23, Noon to 3 p.m.: Interactive and interpretive hip hop and African dance performance from Tulane students

Saturday, April 13, Noon to 3 p.m.: Free exhibition tour, guided interactive activity “personal writing for social change” led by author Lara Naughton, panel with artists Carl Joe Williams and Taslim van Hattum

Tuesday, April 23, 7 p.m.: Film screening of “The House I Live In”

Saturday, May 11, Noon to 3 p.m.: Free exhibition tour, musical performance, and a discussion with Per(Sisters) featured in the exhibit

Saturday, June 8, Noon to 3 p.m.: Free exhibition tour, performance in the galleries, and discussion with policy advocates

Wednesday, June 19, 6 to 8 p.m.: Juneteenth event with closing exhibition party

For additional information or to view the digital version of the exhibition, visit www.persister.info.

This article originally published in the January 14, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.