Jail Portrait Venture at New Deal Salon Nov. 18-19

We’ve made it fairly straightforward to go about life with out giving an excessive amount of thought to incarcerated individuals. They’re not solely stored behind bars, however stored out of sight, and it’s straightforward to neglect that there are such a lot of individuals dwelling their lives so faraway from the remainder of us — 17,129 of them statewide, the Arkansas Division of Corrections reported in July. The Jail Portrait Venture, an endeavor of the Compassion Works For All group, works to foster connection and empathy by matching individuals in jail with native artists, who create a portrait of the confined particular person.

The portraits might be displayed at New Deal Gallery in Little Rock (2003 S. Louisiana St.) Friday, Nov. 18, 6-9 p.m., with fare from Lili’s Mexican Avenue Meals. On Saturday, Nov. 19, the gallery opens at 1 p.m., and CWFA hosts a reside storytelling occasion at 2 p.m. that includes tales from individuals who have been incarcerated in Arkansas. Proceeds from this occasion profit the artists, in addition to CWFA’s programming.

Artists embody: Zina Al-Shukri, Alice Aida Ayers, Laura Brainard Raborn, Sydney Carmichael, Meikel Church, Adaja Cooper, Laura Fanning, DebiLynn Fendley, Melissa Gill, Amanda Heinbockel, Jose Hernandez, Tanya Hollifield, Layet Johnson, Omaya Jones, John Kushmaul, Ron McAdoo, Stacey McKinney, Michael Schaffer, Kasten Searles, Chrystal Ashunti Seawood, Ricky Sikes, Nicole Stewart, Sondra Sturdy, and Ellie Wheeler-Hill.

“This venture shouldn’t be about making claims on guilt or innocence, or whether or not somebody is ‘good’ or ‘unhealthy,’” a press launch said. “We invite viewers to replicate on our frequent humanity in mild of this context, not as a result of it’s straightforward, however particularly as a result of it’s laborious. If we sincerely consider that compassion works for all, then we should lengthen it even to those that have executed egregious issues and belief that compassion may be transformative.”

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