“American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it.”

— James Baldwin

More Beautiful, More Terrible: Humans of Life Row is a counter narrative, a sustained act of resistance, an exhibition that reveals the intimate experiences, transformative ideas, and beautiful dreams of people facing the stark realities of life and de facto life sentencing in Illinois. These sentences are commonly described as death by incarceration because they condemn people to confinement until their death. Nevertheless, as contributing artist, Reginald BoClair, states, “Though sentenced to die in prison, we are alive.”

In the United States, more than 200,000 people are serving life sentences. In Illinois, approximately 4,300 people are serving life or de facto life, a sentence of fifty years or more. In 1978, Illinois eliminated parole making it one of the six states where all life sentences are imposed without the possibility of parole. Of the people serving life without parole in Illinois 67% are Black and 53% are 55 years old or older, statistics that underscore the racism and decades-long impact of life sentencing. Yet, every human represented in these numbers is so much more than a statistic.

Inspired by the popular Humans of New York photography project highlighting stories and photographs of the varied people on the streets of New York, More Beautiful, More Terrible: Humans of Life Row explores the views, hopes, worries, aspirations, and everyday lives of the diverse array of people concealed by the logics and structures of mass incarceration. Through personal narratives, artistic expressions, compelling installations, and poetic verse, this exhibition shines a light on the people who inhabit ‘life row.’

The collected works create space for contributing artists, family members, politicians, and the wider public to learn more about themselves, each other, society, and the history of life sentencing in hopes to inspire alternative forms of justice, accountability, and healing.

P+NAP Think Tank

This exhibition is part of a broader Humans of Life Row initiative that emerged from the Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project (PNAP) Think Tank at Stateville Prison. The Think Tank is composed of scholars, writers, and artists who seek to transform the material and ideological conditions created by carceral logics through in-depth research, policy analysis and advocacy, alongside creative cultural projects. The Think Tank seeks to make key interventions and offer critical insights to the broader movement to end mass-incarceration from within one of the most brutal geographies of the prison-industrial-complex. As Devon Terrell, an inaugural Think Tank member, put it: “[we] walk into the future by visualizing it today.”

The Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project is a visual arts and education project that connects teaching artists and scholars to incarcerated students at Stateville Prison through classes, workshops, guest lectures, and a think tank.

Featuring contributions from:

Carlos Barberena, Jesus Barraza, Michael Bell, Reginald BoClair, Stephanie Bonds, Sarah Brannon, Dorothy Burge, Melanie Cervantes, Carri Cook, Monica Cosby, Robert Curry, Michelle Daniel Jones, Christian Dior Noel, Joseph Dole, Raul Dorado, William Estrada, Darrell W. Fair, Charles Hill, Renaldo Hudson, Candace Hunter, Antonio Kendrick, Darnell Lane, Lisa Lee and National Public Housing Museum, Damon Locks, Rodney Love, Lucky Pierre (Kevin Kaempf, Michael Thomas, Mary Zerkel), Juan Luna, Breanna Maldonado, Jerel Matthews, Shaneva McReynolds, Pablo Mendoza, Olivia Mikolai Ridge, Lakeshia Murph, Daniel Perkins, Steven Ramirez, Erika Ray, Benny Rios DonJuan, Sarah Ross, Carl Smith, Lonnie Smith, James Soto, Michael Simmons, Michael M. Sullivan, Johnny Taylor, Devon Terrell, Chip Thomas, Antwon Tyler, jina valentine and Sylvan Palm Valentine, Angie Variella, Decedrick Walker, Eric Watkins, Anna Martine Whitehead, Carl Williams, and more

Co-curated and co-organized by Aaron Hughes and Alice Kim. Exhibition organizing team includes Eliza Gonring, Fernanda Ponce, Neomi Rao, Taji Chesimet, William Ayers

This exhibition is co-sponsored by Co-Prosperity, the Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project, and Beyond Prisons at Center for the Study of Race, Politics & Culture at the University of Chicago and is supported in part by Illinois Humanities and Woods Fund Chicago.

Special thanks to Victoria Alvarez, Ben Austen, Ahniya Butler, Audrey Catalano, Raphael Jackson, Noah Karapanagiotidis, S.Y. Lim, Arianna Salgado, and Nick Wylie.

PUBLIC PROGRAMS

Note: Given the legionnaires crisis inside IDOC, the exhibition will serve as a water collection site in collaboration with the Coalition to Decarcerate Illinois. Attendees are invited to bring sealed bottles of water to the collection site to be donated to communities in Stateville.

Opening Reception
Saturday, April 27, 2024, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Join Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project in celebrating the opening More Beautiful, More Terrible: Humans of Life Row. Exhibition organizers and artists will share reflections and insight on the featured artworks. The program will conclude with a special performance by Anna Martine Whitehead responding to Lonnie Smith’s poem “Am I a Person.”

[There will be a private light reception at 6:00 PM for contributors and family members.]
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Parole Illinois Throughout the Years
Thursday, May 2, 2024, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Join Parole Illinois for an insightful program that sheds light on the evolution of parole systems in Illinois. Through panel discussions, and fundraising efforts, attendees will be invited into meaningful conversations on parole reform and its impact on communities. Panelists include Jimmy Soto, Kevin Blumenberg (Swack), James Lenoir, Ben Austen, and Shaneva McReynolds moderated by Ashton Hoselton

Chicago Humanities Festival
Saturday, May 4, 2024

11:00 AM | Everyday Objects from the Public Housing to Prison Pipeline

Join Lisa Lee (Executive Director, National Public Housing Museum), Dorothy Burge (artist and educator) and Colette Payne (Director, Reclamation Project, Women’s Justice Institute) in conversation about the Everyday Objects from the Public Housing to Prison Pipeline. After the discussion Aaron Hughes, Exhibition Co-organizer and Co-curator, will lead the gallery walk.

1:00 PM | Two Tales of (In)Justice: Fighting Death by Incarceration from the Inside Out

Join James Soto and Renaldo Hudson as they share their stories and pathways to freedom moderated by Alice Kim. Both men survived decades of long-term incarceration.

Lessons & Learnings from Teaching at Logan
Thursday, May 16, 2024, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Join Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project for a comprehensive report back and update on PNAP’s two-year initiative at Logan Prison. Starting as listening sessions, the Logan Initiative has evolved into various course tracks and reading groups inside. As we continue to shape the initiative, our team is visualizing & dissecting the long term implications of our work at Logan. Members of our team will dive into the various aspects of this work and show a snapshot of our current zine project set to be shared in June.
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Power of Art
Tuesday, May 21, 2024, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Join More Beautiful, More Terrible: Humans of Life Row featured artists to discuss the exhibition and the transformative power of art.
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Closing Program

Saturday, June 1, 2024, 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Join Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project for a reception to celebrate the closing of More Beautiful, More Terrible: Humans of Life Row. Attendees of all ages will be invited to write letters, make buttons, and screen print designs from the artists at Stateville Prison with William Estrada and Aaron Hughes.
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Official Website

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Tags: Aaron Hughes, Ahniya Butler, Alice Kim, Anna Martine Whitehead, Ashton Hoselton, Audrey Catalano, Ben Austen, Benny Rios DonJuan, Bridgeport, Carl Smith, Carl Williams, Carlos Barberena, Carri Cook, Charles Hill, Chicago, Chip Thomas, Christian Dior Noel, Co-prosperity, Colette Payne, Damon Locks, Darnell Lane, Darrell W. Fair, Decedrick Walker, Devon Terrell, Dorothy Burge, Eliza Gonring, Eric Watkins, Erika Ray, Fernanda Ponce, James Lenoir, James Soto, Jesus Barraza, Jimmy Soto, Johnny Taylor, Joseph Dole, Juan Luna, Kevin Blumenberg, Lisa Lee, Lonnie Smith, Lucky Pierre, Melanie Cervantes, Michael Bell, Michael M. Sullivan, Michael Simmons, Michael Thomas, Michelle Daniel Jones, Monica Cosby, More Beautiful, More Terrible: Humans of Life Row, Neomi Rao, Nick Wylie, Olivia Mikolai Ridge, Pablo Mendoza, Raphael Jackson, Raul Dorado, Reginald BoClair, Renaldo Hudson, Robert Curry, Rodney Love, S.Y Lim, Sarah Brannon, Sarah Ross, Shaneva McReynolds, Stephanie Bonds, Steven Ramirez, Sylvan Palm Valentine, Taji Chesimet, Victoria Alvarez, William Ayers, William Estrada