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Stitching Time features 12 quilts created by men who are incarcerated in the Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola Prison. These works of art, and accompanying recorded interviews, tell the story of a unique inside-outside quilt collaboration. The exhibition focuses our attention on the quilt creators, people often forgotten by society when discussing the history of the U.S. criminal justice system. Also on view in the gallery will be Give Me Life, a selection of works from women artists presently or formerly incarcerated at York Correctional Institution, a maximum security state prison in Niantic, CT, courtesy of Community Partners in Action (CPA). The CPA’s Prison Arts program was initiated in 1978 and is one of the longest-running projects of its kind in the United States. Founded in 1875, CPA is celebrating 150 years of working within the criminal justice system.
Faculty liaison: Don Sawyer, PhD (VP of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging)
Image: Kenny “Zulu” Whitmore, Etienne, Mutulu Shakur, and Maureen Kelleher (quilt design); Maureen Kelleher (quilting), James Baldwin: Quote #3, 2019, mixed cotton blends. Lent by Maureen Kelleher, © Maureen Kelleher
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Events listed below with a location are live, in-person programs. When possible, those events will also be streamed and the recordings posted to our YouTube channel.
Opening Night Lecture: Stitching Time: Social Justice Collaboration Quilts Project and Give Me Life: CPA Prison Arts Program
Thursday, September 11, 5:30 p.m.
Jeffrey Greene, CT Prison Art Project
Dolan Event Space and streaming
Jeffrey Greene, Program Manager of Community Partners in Action’s Prison Art Project, will deliver the opening night talk, preceded by brief remarks by Maureen Kelleher, co-founder of the Social Justice Collaboration Quilts Project.
The title Give Me Life comes from this quote from Prison Art Project alumni Renee Peterson: “White. Or Grey. Boring. Depressing. Very cold, all the time. It was awful. Small. It made me feel small sometimes. But, art makes me feel like a big person again. It gave me life.”
Reception: Stitching Time: Social Justice Collaboration Quilts Project and Give Me Life: CPA Prison Arts Program
Thursday, September 11, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Quick Center for the Arts, Walsh Gallery and Lobby
Gallery Talk: Maureen Kelleher, co-founder, Social Justice Collaboration Quilts Project
Saturday, October 4, 12 noon
Walsh Gallery
Maureen Kelleher, co-founder of the Social Justice Collaboration Quilts Project at Angola Prison, will speak about her work with the quilt creators and the process of creating the pieces on view in the exhibition Stitching Time.
Faculty Roundtable: Incarceration in the U.S.
Tuesday, October 21, 5-6:30 p.m
Don Sawyer, Gregg Caruso, Kevin O’Brien, Sonya Huber
Dolan Event Space and streaming
A group of Fairfield University professors and formerly incarcerated individuals will share their unique perspectives – disciplinary and personal – on the issues surrounding incarceration in the United States. Panelists include Don Sawyer, PhD (VP of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging); Gregg Caruso, PhD (Director, Waide Center for Applied Ethics); Sonya Huber (Professor, English Creative Writing), and Kevin O’Brien, S.J. (Vice Provost, Executive Director, Fairfield Bellarmine).
Family Day: Making Meaning with Quilts
November 15, 12:30-2 p.m. and 2:30-4 p.m. (two sessions)
Quick Center Lobby
Registration required; ages 4-10
Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. (Thursday until 8 p.m.) - We are closed for national and university holidays and during inclement weather.
Location:
For GPS please use the following address: 200 Barlow Road, Fairfield, CT, 06824, or click on the map image at right for directions.
Parking:
Free parking available at the lot in front of the Quick Center, including handicap parking.
Admission:
The museum is open to the public and admission is free.
Tours:
Private tours with a curator are available for a fee; please contact museum@fairfield.edu or 203-254-4046.
Reach Us By train:
Take Metro-North, New Haven Line, to Fairfield Station (approximately 70 minutes from Grand Central Station).
www.mta.info/mnr
800-638-7646
For further information or to schedule a visit or tour, please contact
Fairfield University Art Museum
1073 North Benson Road
Fairfield, CT 06824
(203) 254-4046
museum@fairfield.edu
