Rikers Island Residency and Exhibition, Rikers Island, New York, 2021-2022
A Fall 2020 Architectural Digest review of our exhibition (centered on nine years of work with those in custody of the NYC Department of Corrections (DOC)) triggered an unfathomable outcome: a visit from the Commissioner of Corrections! A team came ahead of the brass to inspect the street in and around The Invisible Dog Art Center, Brooklyn. We were both nervous and excited for what was about to happen.
The Commissioner, her Chief of Staff and Chief of Department—all women—toured the exhibition with us, touched by the heartfelt stories we had captured and inspired by the artworks that now encapsulated those stories. Commissioner Cynthia Brann told us she rarely encountered people not employed by the Department who have dedicated so much of their lives to working with those on the inside and that she wanted to give us 100% access to Rikers Island to do our dream project.
Our vision was a residency and we created an art studio and exhibition in one of the facilities on the Island. The exhibition presented Collaborative Masterworks spanning a decade of engaging inside the DOC., our more personal artworks, as well as new works — a series of hand-beaded portraits of people we were inspired by during our year on the Island. Our hope was to increase morale and create a more positive environment amongst those on the Island. People walking through the hallways in the facility would discover our space and their eyes would widen and they'd say, “What is this place!” We toured them through the exhibition and then asked them “What one word describes your hopes for the future?”
Rikers Portraits 2021 was made possible with the generous support of the Barbara and Donald Tober Foundation, Fieldstead and Company, Cristina Grajales Gallery, David Hughes and Mark Sappington. Special thanks to Lucien Zayan and the Invisible Dog Art Center, Pierre Rougier, Cynthia Brann, Hazel Jennings, Cecilia Flaherty, Carmen Gonzalez and Keziah Eddy.
We knew during our first visit to Rikers a decade ago that we’d continue this collaboration for the rest of our careers. Since 2012 we’ve worked with hundreds of those in custody—juvenile and adult, male, female and transitioning individuals—as well as correctional officers, staff and DOC leadership, sharing their stories through enduring and inspiring works of contemporary art.
How did the exhibition make you feel? Corrections Officer: “I feel like it gave me hope for the future and what this department can become if we all work together.”
