Between the Lines
Between the Lines is a community engagement project that will connect LGBTQ+ incarcerated artists in Florida to outside artists and audiences through correspondence based art workshops.
Between the Lines aims to make visible the specific issues faced by LGBTQ+ people inside prisons, and to mobilize letter-writing as an important abolitionist tool to provide support, care and connection to incarcerated artists.
The idea draws on the practice of letter-writing I began while my father was serving time in a Florida prison, and expands outward from the personal to talk about community impact, where LGBTQ+ people are incarcerated at three times the rate of heterosexuals. Through this work, Between the Lines aims to elevate the creative expression of people living within stark conditions of confinement, and to advocate for the fundamental humanity and dignity of incarcerated people within a system that denies them their most basic civil and human rights.
This project is supported by We,Women Photo, the largest community engagement photography project currently underway in the United States. We, Women will present projects by 25 women, transgender and non-binary people across important issues including racial justice, voter suppression, rural healthcare, immigration detention and more. In 2021, work from all the participating artists will be included in a traveling exhibition. The final format of Between the Lines will be a self-published artist book that includes contributions from all incarcerated artists that participate in the project.
CALL FOR PARTICIPATION: Outside artists anywhere in the U.S. who would like to give feedback on contributing artists work, as well as share ideas, artistic references and creative exercises. All participation will happen remotely over e-mail. There are opportunities to give one-off feedback, or regular correspondence, based on your availability.