“Imagining Abolition” from The Returning Artists Guild (RAG) opens at The Welcome Project, June 22nd.
“Imagining Abolition” is a celebration in solidarity with our inside artists and in appreciation of our outside artists. As a group of currently and formerly incarcerated artists and exonerated artists, RAG approaches the work of ending mass incarceration from a variety of lived experiences within the carceral system. They wade through the mire of “criminal justice” and bear the burden of complex trauma. RAG’s work, creative practice, holds space for revealing the nature of what they’ve survived and space to dream of a true free future.
For Returning Artists Guild, abolition is about addressing the facts of the looming prison industrial complex that has not kept us safe, that sends innocent people to death row, that profits off the labor of people in captivity, and that destroys the lives of everyone who encounters it. Abolition is also about doing the work, which is why RAG artists come together to share their stories, heal the community, and to work together to support artists still inside the fences, until they too come home.
Through performances, artworks, storytelling, exhibitions and events, Returning Artists Guild have helped audiences gain a better understanding of the prison industrial complex, its direct impact on so many people, and the nuanced distinction between prison abolition and prison reform movements.
As part of the programming for “Imagining Abolition”, RAG is organizing Yard Day on Saturday, September 14th, 12 – 6 PM. Summertime in the free world means schools out, grills are fired up, and friends and families gather to enjoy the sunshine. Summertime in prison means showering to try and cool off, waiting for ice, and smelling the smoke but never seeing the fireworks or tasting a burger. There is one day every summer, in every prison, that is something like a holiday. “Yard Day” is a handful of tickets for snacks, games in the gym and on the yard, performances, music, dancing, and most importantly, pictures with your friends, who are more like family. We hope you will join us for an outside Yard Day and celebrate the summer, family, and community, while remembering those who are not yet free and long to join us.
“Imagining Abolition” will be on view at Welcome June 22nd through September 14th, 2024.
About the Artists behind RAG:
Aimee Wissman and Kamisha Thomas formally co-founded the RAG in 2018, after their respective releases. They wanted to continue the therapeutic, creative community that they found “inside.” Both are multidisciplinary, social practice artists and single mothers, who believe that their artistic talents and energy are best spent building a platform for artists like themselves and investing in a free future for everyone. Learn more about the RAG at www.thereturningartistsguild.org and @thereturningartistsguild.
IF YOU GO:
What: Exhibition Opening Reception
When: Saturday, June 22nd, 2024, 6-9 PM
Where: The Welcome Project, 2936 Colerain Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45225
Admission: FREE, open to the public|
IF YOU GO:
What: Yard Day
When: Saturday, September 14th, 2024, 12 – 6 PM
Where: Camp Washington Playground, 1201 Stock Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45225
Admission: FREE, open to the public
This project and others are made possible in part thanks to the sustained and generous funding of ArtsWave and the Ohio Arts Council.
The project was funded by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
For more information or further questions about “Imagining Abolition,” email Wave Pool’s Executive Director Anissa Lewis at anissa@wavepoolgallery.org
Wave Pool creates community fulfillment through artistic opportunities.
Wave Pool is a socially-engaged art center that acts as a conduit for community change through artist opportunities and support. Pairing communities’ knowledge of their needs with artists’ sense of possibility, Wave Pool provides a structure whereby contemporary art and artists can be integral contributors to the fabric and success of our city, country, and beyond, by helping us build relationships and collective knowledge around complex issues, centering the insights and experience of those most intimately affected.
www.wavepoolgallery.org
