Exhibit of art from prisons opens at Emery

JM Manley, “Winter Trackers.” Submitted image

FARMINGTON — The Emery Community Arts Center on the University of Maine at Farmington campus is featuring a traveling exhibit of art by residents of Maine prisons.

“Inside Vision: An Outside Exhibition of Inside Art,” curated by Jan Collins, Olivia Hochstadt and Nicole Lund (UMF ’24), runs from Thursday, Oct. 5 to Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023. It is on display throughout the lobby spaces in Emery. An opening reception will be held on Oct. 5 from 5 – 7 p.m., with remarks by the curators at 5:30 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

Residents of Maine’s prisons express their lived experience, their hopes, and their dreams in the art they create. Their artwork defies stereotypes and emphasizes that we are all more than the worst act that we have committed. Through their art, those living inside convey the message that, “We are whole people with loves and losses, skills, talents, ideas, and gifts . . . and a longing to be free.”

Inside Vision is a joint effort between the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition and the Maine Department of Corrections and is supported by the American Rescue Plan Maine Project Grant provided by SPACE Gallery.

The Emery Community Arts Center is an innovative, experimental venue for the arts in Western Maine. It features an exciting 2,500-square-foot, 109-seat multipurpose performance space with dynamic vertical foldaway doors that open onto an outdoor performance area and a 1,600-square-foot Flex-Space gallery for traditional exhibits, new media and performance art. A dramatic interior corridor offers additional exhibition space and connects the center with the UMF Alumni Theater.

The Emery Arts Center gallery is located on Academy St. (between Main St. and High St.) in downtown Farmington. The gallery is open Monday-Friday, 10am-6pm; Saturday, 12 – 6 p.m. Closed Sundays and holidays. Please check Emery’s website for updates at https://wpsites.maine.edu/emerycommunityartscenter/

Sign In: