Artist Jesse Krimes Is Heading Up a New Nonprofit to Help Formerly Incarcerated Artists Find Creative Careers
Artnet, May 26, 2023: Artist Jesse Krimes Is Heading Up a New Nonprofit to Help Formerly Incarcerated Artists Find Creative Careers
“In 2017, Agnes Gund sold Roy Lichtenstein’s prized Masterpiece (1962) painting to launch the Art for Justice Fund, a temporary fellowship supporting artists working to reform the criminal justice system. After dolling out $125 million in grants over the course of six years, the initiative is now winding down—but its mission will live on.
“As a last act, Gund’s fund has provided a major grant for the establishment of the Center for Art and Advocacy, a non-profit dedicated to mentoring justice-impacted creatives. It was founded by Jesse Krimes, an artist and organizer who was himself previously incarcerated, and is an outgrowth of the Right of Return Fellowship, which he cofounded in 2017.
“Moving forward, that fellowship will become one of the new organization’s three central components, along with a residency in northeast Pennsylvania and an education-focused ‘academy.’ Employees will work out of the center’s headquarters in Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy neighborhood, set to open this fall.
“Krimes, who will lead the center as its inaugural executive director, says artists who lose access to art practices while incarcerated frequently struggle to get it back after being released.
“‘So much of being an artist is finding the time and space to dream and think and create. If you’re constantly mired in just pure survival mode, it makes it very difficult to find that time and resources are always an issue,’ he said.”
Additional reading:
Artnet, July 28, 2023: Artist and Activist Jesse Krimes, Whose Work Reflects His Experience While Incarcerated, Has Joined Jack Shainman
