Exhibit Development: "States of Incarceration"
As part of a class, I recently worked on the “States of Incarceration: A National Dialogue of Local Histories” exhibit. As part of a collaborative project with IUPUI Museum Studies and Public History Students students and the Humanities Action Lab, I helped develop a traveling exhibit on incarceration. I also participated in the project’s opening and conference in New York, where we were able to participate in intensive discussions with scholars, activists, and professionals about incarceration. The traveling exhibit features panels from twenty collaborators from universities across the United States and internationally, and it is focused on contemporary and historic issues surrounding incarceration. Our team focused on the issue of mental health and incarceration, working with Central State Hospital’s history and community partners like the Indiana chapter of NAMI.
Visit the States of Incarceration project website here.
Research and exhibit development
Working closely with a small team, I researched both historic and contemporary sources on mental health and prisons, and wrote meaningful and relevant copy that synthesized the disparate pieces of this topic. Between working as a team and working with community partners, this experience has helped me hone my communication skills.
Community collaboration
With this project, I worked directly with people affected by these issues and physically visited prison spaces to fully understand the scope and importance of this project. Our team made a conscious effort to accurately and compassionately represent the voices of the individuals living with mental health and incarceration issues. Incarceration and mental health are important issues that are not talked about often enough, and I feel that we created a strong project that will create an opportunity for meaningful interactions between different groups in the community.
