Projects tagged "Police & Prisons"

No Pride in Incarceration!
Practitioner:
QLatinx, Familia TQML
Date:
Jun 24 2021
❗❗PRIDE REQUIRES ACTION❗❗ Celebrating Pride? What better way to uplift LGBTQ people’s lives than by joining our campaign to #EndTransDetention? Honor the legacy of Pride by taking action until all of us are free. Sign here & share with 3 friends: https://www.endtransdetentions.org/petition
ABOLISH ICE
Practitioner:
Patricia Dahlman and Michael Dal Cerro
Date:
Apr 7 2026
The resistance to Trump’s ICE militia is strong and is documented in the online art exhibition, “ABOLISH ICE” https://sites.google.com/view/abolish-ice/home The participating artists-activists are from New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and California.
A Maze in Philadelphia Focuses Attention on the Hidden Cruelty of US Prisons
Practitioner:
Sam Durant
Date:
Oct 30 2015
The US prison system is one of the world’s great shames. A quarter of the world’s prisoners are being detained in a country that represents only 5% of the world’s population. It is a system that has been compared to a modern-day version of the Jim Crow laws.
Song 33
Practitioner:
Noname
Date:
Jun 18 2020
After J.Cole posted a song that implies that Noname can get her message across to a wider audience if she changes her tone, she releases another song in response. However, instead of explicitly responding to his critique, she uses the controversy to shed light on the death of Black female activist Oluwatoyin Salau, who was killed by her assaulter.
The masked artist protesters in a polluted city of China
Practitioner:
Artists in Chengdu
Date:
Nov 11 2016
In the south-western city of Chengdu, by all accounts a city on the edge coping with heavy pollution but also with authorities scrambling to put a lid on simmering discontent. That night police detained a number of artists who managed to stage a silent demonstration, while wearing face masks.
A tribute to the Black Panther Party by Henry Taylor
Practitioner:
Henry Taylor
Date:
Jan 1 2024
Henry Taylor (born 1958) is an American artist and painter who lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He is best known for his experimental figurative paintings and exploration of contemporary and relevant historical social issues. Taylor rewrites art history, often with art historical references, to amplify Black people who have been overlooked or undermined by the canon and systems of power and control.
Defacement (The Death of Michael Stewart)
Practitioner:
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Date:
Oct 1 1983
“It could have been me,” Jean-Michel Basquiat would say at the mere mention of the untimely death of Michael Stewart. Stewart, a 25-year-old artist, was allegedly drawing on the walls of the subway on 15 September 1983 when he was approached by transit cops who then placed him under arrest.
Guide for Youth Protestors
Practitioner:
Jessalyn Aaland
Date:
Jan 1 2017
The project consists of a double-sided, hand-drawn 8.5" x 11" quarter-fold sheet available to print and distribute freely. It features such topics as basic information on police tactics (kettling, LRADS, tear gas or pepper spray), ways cops might try to get you to talk to them, and your rights as a student.
BLOOD. by Kendrick Lamar
Practitioner:
Kendrick Lamar
Date:
Apr 14 2017
Kendick Lamar is known as one of the most prolific, and socially conscious, rappers of our time. 'BLOOD.' is the second track off of Lamar's iconic album 'DAMN.' from 2017. What makes this song stand out is the sample used at the end of part one of the song.
Inside Out Project
Practitioner:
JR
Date:
Mar 2 2011
After winning the TED Prize on March 2, 2011, the French-artist JR launched the Inside Out Project, in his first TED Talk. Using his own artistic practice as inspiration, this participatory platform helps individuals and communities to make a statement by displaying large-scale black and white portraits in public spaces. Through their “Actions,” communities around the world have sparked collaborations and conversations.
How Selective Enforcement of Illegal Advertising Laws Punishes Creative Activism
Practitioner:
The Illuminator, Occupy Museums
Date:
Sep 29 2014
The enforcement of city and state law pertaining to graffiti, advertising, and other signage has enormous power to visually shape public space. In New York City, enforcement is heavily skewed to ignore illegal commercial advertising, while simultaneously aggressively targeting graffiti and, in some cases, symbols of dissent.
For the People Artists Collective: Virtual Quilt Project
Practitioner:
For the People Artists Collective
Date:
Jul 9 2020
During the COVID-19 pandemic, two Chicago-based organizations, For the People Artists Collective and Chicago Community Bond Fund, worked together to create Decarcerate Now, a virtual quilt honoring individuals who died of COVID-19 while in the custody of the Cook County Jail (CCJ).
Black Lives Matter Plaza in DC
Practitioner:
Rose Jaffe
Date:
Jun 5 2020
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser renamed a street in front of the White House “Black Lives Matter Plaza” and had the slogan painted on the asphalt in massive yellow letters, a pointed salvo in her escalating dispute with President Trump over control of D.C. streets.
NYC Mock Posters Detail Police Terror Drills, Nuclear Threats
Practitioner:
Greywater
Date:
May 12 2013
In an effort to prepare against chemical, biological and radiological attacks in the New York subway, the New York Police Department has announced plans to release harmless gases into the city’s streets and subway stations to better understand the pathways of airborne contaminants. Officials will use more than 200 sensors, set up throughout all five boroughs, to track these benign gases as they disperse.
Stop - short film on stop and frisk
Practitioner:
Green Brothers
Date:
Feb 3 2015
https://vimeo.com/114980972 "Probably one of the most important and timely shorts for America this year. Reinaldo Marcus Green's film addresses the upsetting aspects of New York City's stop-and-frisk policies with sensitivity and insight." -Jeff Bowers, VICE (http://bit.ly/1mU7HHQ)
Trayvon Martin's Flight Suit Will Be Displayed At This New Smithsonian Exhibit
Practitioner:
The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture
Date:
Mar 1 2023
A new exhibition titled “Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures” will debut at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) to examine Afrofuturist expression and culture as it relates to music, activism, art, and more.
The Harlem Festival of Culture
Practitioner:
Tony Cornelius, HFC
Date:
Jul 28 2023
The Harlem Festival of Culture not only pays homage to the past but also envisions a brighter future. It serves as a platform to showcase the rich diversity and dynamism of Harlem's artistic community, while also acting as a catalyst for social change and community empowerment. The festival boasts a lineup of artists from various genres and backgrounds, including jazz, soul, hip-hop, gospel, blues, rock, Latin, and Afrobeat.
No Humans Involved: After Sylvia Wynter
Practitioner:
Alexandra Bell
Date:
Dec 1 2018
In this series featured in the 2019 Whitney Biennial, artist Alexandra Bell edited headline pages from the New York Daily News in 1989 concerning the case of the Central Park 5. Through redaction, highlighting, and censoring, Bell shows how the teens accused of this crime were painted as a pack of animals by the media.
Restored Tennessee Rep. Pearson charts progressive path
Practitioner:
ustin Pearson
Date:
Apr 18 2023
Tennessee Rep. Justin Pearson never guessed he'd be expelled for leading a gun control protest on the House floor after a deadly school shooting. Nor did he predict that he'd be propelled into the national spotlight, placing his state at the forefront of the conversation on gun regulations.
The Mirror Casket Project
Practitioner:
De Andrea Nichols, Marcis Curtis, Sophie Lipman, Damon Davis, Mallory Nezam, Derek Laney, Elizabeth Vega
Date:
Sep 24 2014
The Mirror Casket project is a sculpture, performance, and visual call to action designed and orchestrated by a collaborative of St. Louis community artists in response to the shooting death of Michael Brown on August 9, 2014 in Ferguson, MO.
Power: From the Mouths of the Occupied
Practitioner:
Patrisse Cullors
Date:
Oct 1 2015
Statistics are easy to remove ourselves from. A story, you are implicated in, and you have to choose what side you are going to be on.
Philando Castile: remembering his life through the power of art
Practitioner:
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Date:
Jun 28 2018
It all started a few months ago, when the Minneapolis Institute of Art got a phone call from Valerie Castile. Castile is the mother of Philando Castile, the 32-year-old black man who was shot and killed by a police officer in 2016. Valerie Castile has since founded the Philando Castile Relief Foundation, which helps victims of gun violence.
In Tamir Rice's death, artists found inspiration to carry on his legacy
Practitioner:
Cleveland Museum of Art
Date:
Jun 25 2016
Samaria Rice, left, and Terrence Spivey welcome the crowd at the Tamir Rice Sweet 16 event to raise funds for a new youth oriented cultural center Thursday, June 14th, 2018, at the Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, Ohio. Photo by Tim Harrison/Special to The Plain Dealer Inspired to carry on Tamir's legacy
"Cops and Robbers" on Netflix
Practitioner:
Timothy Ware-Hill, Arnon Manor, netflix
Date:
Dec 28 2020
Following the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, corporations jumped on the opportunity to commodify the Black Lives Matter movement. In June of 2020, Netflix launched a Black Lives Matter collection, and by December, they had released Cops and Robbers, an animated short about racial injustice.
#NoKidsInCages Artists Install 20 Cages With Models of Children Inside Across NYC
Practitioner:
Badger & Winters, Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES)
Date:
Jun 12 2019
The ad agency Badger & Winters in collaboration with immigrant rights nonprofit organization Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) installed 20 cages with mannequins representing immigrant children inside across New York City. Each cage had a sign that said #NoKidsInCages and played audio of a child crying.

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