This is an effort to ask better questions about the information that communities produce and amass to establish a collective memory about the prison industry in the United States. One question we want to keep asking is, “What are the consequences of giving someone a life sentence to prison?” This event is free and open to the public. The exhibit will be on display from October 6th until November 4th.

Molly’s recent work documents her relationship with Nancy, a 77-year-old woman serving life without parole. Chris’s work wrestles with his relationship to Richard, a veteran and intellectual, someone he met while he was also incarcerated, who is now dying of terminal cancer behind prison walls. The objects on view are artifacts of our own efforts to understand, and they follow a trail where personal responsibility is to “feel” is headed.

Molly Ott is a South Carolinian whose work is preoccupied with rituals of Americana and personal myth. She works with nonprofits in Los Angeles County to bring visual art and creative writing to programming to juveniles and adults within the carceral system. She graduated from Lander University in 2017 and holds an MFA from the University of Colorado Boulder in sculpture and post-studio practice.

Christian Branscombe was incarcerated for 25 years during which he was the chairman of an art room for over a decade at Lancaster, California State Prisons. The artists and their work from this time contributed to charity, personal development and making amends to survivors of violent crime.

Please visit www.lander.edu/events for updates and to confirm event times and venues.