In partnership with the acclaimed visual artist Hank Willis Thomas, the nonprofit architecture firm MASS Design Group, and the production team Openbox, Incarceration Nations Network presents The Writing on the Wall, a pop-up art installation made from writing by people in prisons around the world. In an effort to raise awareness about mass incarceration and center the words of those directly impacted at the heart of the fight for prison reimagining, the installation is displayed in public spaces as a form of verbal and visual intrusion. Each debut The Writing on the Wall is an event and ongoing campaign, coordinated in collaboration with local justice reform organizations and led by formerly incarcerated community leaders. It has thus far been exhibited in New York City on the High Line park – the most trafficked public park in the world – as well as in Detroit, New Orleans, Philadelphia, and Miami. IncarcerationNationsNetwork.com
Exchange for Change offers writing courses in prisons and runs letter exchanges between incarcerated students and writers studying on the outside. By preparing incarcerated people for their re-entry into the outside community and preparing that community for their return, Exchange for Change provides vision and understanding on both sides of the fence.