EXHIBITS & EVENTS 

Art for Justice (AfJ) Presentation, Art Display, and Interactive Experience took place at Arcadia University on 11/14/23. Professor Kevin Review invited AfJ to bring art by individuals experiencing injustice to stimulate conversations about those injustices and the struggles taking place to right these wrongs for students in his class, “Wrongful Convictions and Exonerations”, and other students at Arcadia.

AfJ asked Muti Ajamu-Osagboro to be our speaker for the event. Muti spoke about being sentenced to death by incarceration when he was a child and experiencing 42 years of incarceration for a crime he said did not commit. AfJ shared the art of Charles Lawson (Zafir), Daniel Gwynn, Eduard Ramirez, Rene Ortiz, and George Lopez.

Lebanon Valley College, Nov. 8, 2022

Art for Justice Presentation, Art Display, and Interactive Event took place at Lebanon Valley College, Nov. 8, 2022, for the Criminal Justice Class, The Rights of the Accused, taught by Ms. La Tasha Williams, Esq., Board President of AfJ. Curriculum included pre-class, in class, and post class activities. Excerpts of students’ written responses to the event.

Thoughts and Ideas generated by artwork and narratives:

• It broke my heart hearing the artists’ stories and seeing them so powerfully portrayed in the art.
• Art is such a humanizing thing. If more people could see this art, more people would have empathy and understanding.
• Our system has failed people and the policies that are still in place prevent progress.
• Art is so innately human. Seeing these artists fight back against the system by holding onto their humanity – when it is being beaten out of them – was incredible.

Does the AfJ interactive presentation and artworks motivate or stimulate a call to action?

• Educate myself and others to get involved any way I can.
• Plan more events like this for campus.
• Advocate for people in the system.
• There’s a call to action for our system to not force a confession – or simply imprison someone so you can say the case is solved –  to take the time to actually conduct an investigation and evaluate the evidence.

Comments for Artists and Art for Justice:

• This artwork is so important. The work of the artists and Art for Justice cannot be overstated.
• It was an honor to view and talk about the work. Thank you.
• The art is amazing. The event showcases such a raw and unfiltered side of what people don’t know that happens behind bars.
• These artworks are astounding. They allow people to see a snippet of what life I like inside and how horrible the system is.
• Your art tells many stories – keep your head up. The world needs to see this.

AfJ Exhibit: Incarcerated Artists’ Creations from Within

Sponsored & Hosted by the Moravian Center of Lancaster and the Islamic Community Center of Lancaster, was featured during the nine week event - Paint, Prison, and Possibilities: Conversations About Justice, Oct. 1 – Nov. 28, 2021. Pastor Mandy Mastros organized four Panel Discussions focused on Solitary Confinement, Reentry, Art as a Human Right, and the Lancaster County Prison. Representatives from seventeen Organizations, Returning Citizens, Survivors of Solitary Confinement, Artists, and Advocates participated in public and small group conversations.

Shown in this photo are Muti, Kevin Revier and some of the students who participated in the discussions at Arcadia University.