"Prison Pretty," http://instagram.com/c.levitt2023/

Creative practices give incarcerated artists vital agency as active subjects engaged in assertive meaning-making. They forge connections through art making and reclaim the authority to tell their own stories. It will come as a surprise to many that prisons are one of the most active sites of art production in the United States. Art making practices are prevalent in prison and incarcerated artists comprise creative communities that share materials, pass on techniques, and inspire creative risks.

The works on display here encourage us to see their creators first and foremost as artists. They invite us to envision ourselves as part of an artistic community that transcends prison walls. And they challenge us to confront the ways we are complicit in the systems that produce the prison.

As Christopher Levitt, the creator of Prison Pretty, asks: why are you at this exhibition?

Featuring 772 artworks by 538 incarcerated artists, the 29th Annual Exhibition of Artists in Michigan Prisons showcases imagination, ingenuity, and creativity. It displays a wide range of artistic styles, genres, and practices and demonstrates the ways that prisons sometimes function as art studios, providing space for experimentation and growth.

We are grateful to the incarcerated artists who entrusted PCAP with their art and allowed us to bring it into the free world. Their work is a testament to the sustaining power of the arts in the most difficult of circumstances and the ability of art to forge connections across great distances and even across prison walls.

-Nora Krinitsky with Christopher Levitt

On this site you can view all of the art in the exhibition, listen to the audio tour, sign the digital Guest Book, and write a response letter to an artist. Please note that all of the images you see in this digital exhibition are the property of the artists who created these works. Artists retain all rights to their art including copright. Reproduction of a work in whole or in part without the permission of the artist and the Prison Creative Arts Project is prohibited. For questions and inquiries about licensing a piece you see here,  contact pcapinfo@umich.edu.