Art Exhibit: Windows on Death Row

Windows on Death Row: Art from Inside and Outside the Prison WallsExhibit: February 2–March 21, 2016 Art Gallery & Aquarium Lounge, FPG Student UnionKeynote: February 2, 2016, 6:30–7:30pm, Great Hall, FPG Student UnionOpening Reception: February 2, 2016, 7:30–9:00pm, Art Gallery & Aquarium Lounge

View more than 70 artworks created by people living on Death Row and by top editorial cartoonists in an exhibition organized by project founders, Anne-Frédérique Widmann and Patrick Chappatte. This art exhibition was first presented at the University of Southern California and is traveling to locations across the country, and coming to UNC on February 2, 2016.

The exhibit will be up from February 2 to March 21 in the Art Gallery and Aquarium Lounge of the FPG Student Union. On the opening night, there will be a lecture by painter and former Death Row inmate, Ndume Olatushani, and exhibition organizer, Anne-Frédérique Widmann, from 6:30pm to 7:30pm in the Great Hall. Following this will be the reception in the exhibit space, taking place from 7:30pm to 9:00pm. Admission is free and open to everyone.

For this exhibition, Widmann and Chappatte organized an art workshop for inmates on death row in maximum security prisons in Texas, California, Georgia, North Carolina, Arkansas, Kansas, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. The inmates were asked to draw and paint their daily lives and experiences in prison. This allows the unique opportunity for the public to view art that comes from within the prison walls. The resulting collection of work also includes artwork by top editorial cartoonists, which offers a witty perspective on the ongoing debate about capital punishment in America.

With currently 3,014 Americans awaiting execution and a decline in numbers of American approval of capital punishment, discussion over the human and economic costs of the death penalty has come into question. This collaboration has led the creation of an exhibition that fosters dialogue. Widmann and Chappatte say: “We hope to contribute to a necessary debate that is not only taking place inside the United States, but also between America and the rest of the Western democracies.”

For more information on art exhibit, visit: http://www.windowsondeathrow.com.

Presented by UNC Student Life & Leadership. Organized by Patrick Chappatte (International NY Times cartoonist) and Anne-Frédérique Widmann (Swiss Journalist). Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs is glad to support this project, which aims at fostering inclusive and constructive debates on the death penalty. In collaboration with the Carolina Union Activities Board, the Summer Reading Program and Frank Baumgartner Ph.D. of the Political Science Department. Artwork was gathered with the help of Compassion, R.E.A.C.H., Minutes Before Six, Who Decides Inc., Witness to Innocence, and Art for Justice. Also sponsored by Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights.