What’s Going to Happen to All the Art on Rikers?

Curbed, January 28, 2022: What’s Going to Happen to All the Art on Rikers?

“Rikers is deliberately opaque to outsiders. Photography isn’t allowed, and there are few published images from inside the jail. What imagery does leave the jail is often leaked as evidence of the brutality that detainees endure. But here’s what we know. There are a few main categories of murals: publicly commissioned pieces by famous artists, like Ringgold, and the pieces created by programs like the Works Progress Administration; collaborations between outside organizations and incarcerated artists; installations that officers or Department of Correction programs initiate with incarcerated artists, like hand-painted signage; and then the art that incarcerated people make on their own, often covertly.”

Additional reading:

The New York Times, January 18, 2022: Faith Ringgold Mural at Rikers Island to Move to Brooklyn Museum

Esquire, October 11, 2018: The Great Rikers Island Art Heist

Groundswell: Incarcerated Minds project