When people venture into the Escaping Time exhibit at Governors Island, which has showcased artwork made by currently or formerly incarcerated individuals for the past nine years, they sometimes come in with mistaken ideas about what the exhibit will include, organizers said.
“I think that people who come in, come in with preconceived notions that they’re going to see prison art — which would entail bars or sadness,” said artist Karen Thomas, whose handcrafted fabric pieces, crafted during her more than three decades of incarceration as well as in the nearly seven years since her release, were on display last year. “But they see hope instead.”
Now the group is looking forward to returning to Governors Island in a few months for the next round of the annual “Organizations in Residence” program — which has provided free space for cultural organizations for over a decade. The initiative runs during summer and early fall, and is free to the public.
The exhibitions are part of Escaping Time’s mission to “to change the narrative and break the stereotype of what society imagines when thinking about the incarcerated.” Exhibits from past years have included paintings, sculptures, drawings, and canvases made from repurposed bedsheets — and organizers say the variety of work on display highlights an often invisible part of society.
“We’re not just displaying beautiful artwork for people who don’t have a platform of their own,” said Jay Darden, artist and curator for Escaping Time’s yearly exhibitions. “But it’s also the avenue to the conversation that needs to be had about issues that bring people into jails and prisons.”
