In the United States—and around the globe—demands are growing for a society in which prisons and policing are not the ostensible solutions to inequality and other social problems. With ideas once specific to abolitionist movements taking hold of the popular imagination, Visualizing Abolition features an event series bringing together artists, activists, scholars, and others united by their commitment to the vital struggle for prison abolition.
Current event information and event archives are below.
On January 22, 2023, 12-5 p.m., join us to celebrate opening of the new UC Santa Cruz Institute of the Arts and Sciences Galleries.
The new galleries, located in the westside of Santa Cruz, provide a home for the innovative and nationally renowned art and justice exhibitions and events which the Institute of the Arts and Sciences has become known for. Since its founding in 2015, the Institute has worked to further UC Santa Cruz’s historic commitment to social and racial justice, with programming engaging students and the public in artworks and creative projects about the urgent issues impacting our communities, including incarceration, climate change, and inequality. With three new climate-controlled galleries, a screening room and event space in a 15,000 square feet building, these exhibitions and events will be more broadly accessible to the public.
Inaugural exhibitions include Seeing and Seen, an exhibition of the work of 2022 MacArthur Fellow and indigenous artist Sky Hopinka presented in collaboration with the San José Museum of Art, and Degrees of Visibility/ Ashes Ashes by artist and activist Ashley Hunt. These exhibitions are part of IAS’s ongoing project Visualizing Abolition, a Mellon Foundation-funded public scholarship initiative at UC Santa Cruz designed to shift the social attachment to prisons through art and education.
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View upcoming and past events here.
