#seeherbos

[gilfnyc]

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)

[gilfnyc]

"...Whereas 'She Her' is designed to engage the public to remind us of the choices we all have to support the further success of Incarcerated Women as they re-enter society and work to become productive, self- sustaining citizens of the Commonwealth..." So honored to have Boston_Mayor Marty Walsh deem July 18th as See Her day in Boston to recognize the work we as a society still have to accept and support those coming out of incarceration as well the mural itself. So much teamwork went into this piece to make it all a success thank you to @now_and_there @daspoppn @aaron_luckman @m.a.dr @quirogagroup @martinatanga #seeherBOS #publicart #boston #annlewis #nowandthere #mural #streetart #massincarceration #activistart #martywalsh #lowerroxbury #crj (at South End, Boston)

[gilfnyc]

I'm working on the final touches today so I thought I'd finally give you all a teaser of See Her. I've spent the last 6 weeks developing and executing a 4 story mural commissioned by @now_and_there in the South End of Boston in collaboration with incarcerated women serving their last 6 months at The McGrath House. After a few workshops focusing on self care and future self projections I took the ladies' work back to my studio and used them all as inspiration to create this piece. It is vital to my practice as an activist artist to use my platform to draw attention to communities that are invisible to the average American. Incarcerated or formerly incarcerated people are often demonized and judged by society's ignorance around the issue and therefore less likely to succeed once out. They have paid their debts to society and without proper support their uphill battle is extreme. We as a society have the choice to be empathetic or to shun them. I hope this project can humanize the issue and create more understanding and thus more opportunities for those embroiled in our criminal justice system. #seeherBOS #nowandthere #annlewis #publicart #massincarceration #dignityforincarceratedwomenact #crj #mcgrathhouse #YOWartist #mural #boston (at South End, Boston)

[gilfnyc]

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

[gilfnyc]

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)

[gilfnyc]

We're so close it hurts. All of it. It all hurts. But I'm so excited to share her with you- and the stories. There are so many amazing stories. 🙏🏽 📷 @marcovaldo_jr #seeherBOS #nowandthere #annlewis #massincarceration #dignityofincarceratedwomenact #activistart #socialjustice (at South End, Boston)

[gilfnyc]

Not a bad little studio! Thanks @bcaonline for lending us such a stunning space for the afternoon! #raindelay #seeherBOS #massincarceration #publicart (at South End, Boston)