#nowandthere

See Her A 4 story mural commissioned by @now_and_there in the South End of Boston See Her is a product of two creative workshops with women transitioning out of incarceration at the McGrath House. After spending days with them I only just scratched the surface of their struggles with re-entry. Only 28% of women of color find employment within a year of their release from prison- compare that to 72% for men. How do we expect people to thrive with numbers like that? The woman you see is Laura, one of the McGrath residents. We're working to help her and her fellow sisters find work. Their resumes will be up on the Now + There website soon for those of you in the Boston area that may be able to help connect them to opportunities. What good is a big mural of an incarcerated woman if we're not doing everything in our power to help her? Raising awareness is an important part of the equation, but using art to actually change people's lives is an exhilarating idea that I cannot wait to watch unfold. A million thank yous to @kategilbertstudio for believing in my ideas, and managing a project of this intensity with such grace. The social practice side of this piece was thorough and well organized- and that will make a difference in the lives of the women at McGrath- thank you for your vision and partnership to make all of this a brilliant success. Also to @daspoppn the most dedicated assistant I could ever possibly imagine- one day waking up at 5am to beat the rain and finishing up at 2am another night- she was with me no matter what, and managed my insanity with her own. I haven't laughed that hard in years. Thank you Ryan for keeping me insane. I am so grateful for these two. I was gifted an incredible support team with which I was able to overcome the most insane obstacles. Without them I would've wilted weeks ago. There is a parallel here: In order to thrive women transitioning out of incarceration need a supportive community as well. We as a society have an opportunity to change that. That's exactly what we're doing in Boston. And I couldn't be more proud. and excited. and inspired. 🙏🏽 📷+🤝 @cfyw #SeeHerBOS #annlewis #nowandthere #massincarceration (at South End, Boston)

The war against oil⛽⛽⛽ cannot be fought with a pre-cooked soup🥫🥫🥫 on a work of art !!! Notoriety and ignorance are a dangerous🚨 combination.

The JOY Parade seemed to achieve it's goal of bringing a bit of joy to people of this awesome city. 🎭🌞🌈🎊🤠🙃🎉 #JOYParade #PublicArt #NowAndThere #NickCave #AugmentBOS #SpicyV #Voravut #BostonLife (at Boston, Massachusetts) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2ZZpBFApcyZJ--KCXnf5bKct8Sb1WQuJShwDE0/?igshid=1k8qyrrtywial

Go check out #NickCave art installation, #AugmentBOS. It's colorful, wacky, spooky, thoughtful & free🎅🎃👅🐰🧟👾 #NowAndThere #Cyclorama #BostonCenterForTheArts #PublicArt #LifeWithTheWife #SpicyV #Voravut #BostonLife (at Cyclorama Building) https://www.instagram.com/p/B110aMbAgwuKRODi-69qF-8cciwJ4r1fyBwLAI0/?igshid=ol2iq1gingme

The Next Project? I’m excited to participate in the @now_and_there Public Art Accelerator Program in 2019. Specifically, this “feral landscape architect” emerges from the forest to create public art in the city of Boston with the support and guidance of @now_and_there. Learn more about this rad public art incubator-type program via link in profile. #bosarts #publicart #communityart #nowandthere (at Boston, Massachusetts) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrPyBStgF7a/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=13id5q597obk0

#BostonResist We See You & Support You! ✊🏽❤️✊🏽 #seeherbos #resist #boston #nowandthere #publicart #fightsupremacy #crj 📸 by Emily Glasser 🙏🏽 (at South End, Boston)

See Her Watching the viewer Laura stands high up on 808 Tremont Street in Boston's South End. Watching, wondering how will she be judged when the viewer realizes she's incarcerated. Wondering if they will judge or empathize, if they will support or demonize her and the other 2.3 million American citizens that are locked up right now. We always have a choice to honor the humanity in others- See Her is my way of honoring incarcerated women who are often forgotten by society. The Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act has just been proposed in the Senate by Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren. Not only should we be advocating for fair treatment in prison- but actively seeking ways to support those transitioning out of prison. 28% of women of color have a job in the first year. That pales in comparison to 70% of men. If we want our communities to flourish we have to knock down some of these barriers, these social stigmas. This starts w each of us, within our understanding of the racial and social imbalances of our criminal justice system. A deep well of gratitude to @kategilbertstudio and @now_and_there for commissioning the community programming and production of this mural. #massincarceration #thedignityforincarceratedwomenact #publicart #mural #boston #annlewis #nowandthere (at South End, Boston)

Boston's NPR station WBUR stopped by the wall the other day and interviewed a few of the ladies from the McGrath House about their challenges coming out of incarceration and what See Her means to them. This is Laura, the woman who appears in the piece. She's tenacious, kind, and highly motivated- I could see that from the moment I met her. The uphill battle incarcerated women find themselves in is severe. They cannot get financial assistance, food stamps, or subsidized housing. Couple that with the steep challenge of finding a job with a criminal record and the hurdles just get higher. If we want healthy communities and lower recidivism rates we not only need to be putting programs in place that help the formerly incarcerated succeed but also as a society we must de-stigmatize what it means to be incarcerated. There is so much judgement passed when we don't know their full stories, the lack of resources that got them there, and the trauma that most incarcerated women go through before they end up in prison. See Her is my attempt to humanize the stigmatized- to offer the public a glimpse of her humanity, and to unmask the invisible subculture in our country of those struggling within the highly dysfunctional criminal justice system. You can listen to the segment and learn more about how you can get involved by clicking the link in my bio. #seeherBOS #nowandthere #annlewis #publicart #boston #wbur #npr #massincarceration #thedignityofincarceratedwomenact #crj #mcgrathhouse (at South End, Boston)