Access Denied: Health, COVID-19, and Incarceration

Curated by Kristen Evangelista, Access Denied: Health, COVID-19, and Incarceration examines the intersections of healthcare access, mental health, and the impact of COVID-19 on incarcerated individuals. The exhibition brings together works that amplify the voices of those affected by systemic neglect and the isolating conditions of incarceration. The exhibition features collages by political activist Ojore Lutalo, who spent more than two decades in solitary confinement at New Jersey State Correctional Facility, offering searing insight into the mental health crisis and impact of COVID-19. Jose Luis Benavides presents Letters to Lost Loved Ones (2022), an installation that memorializes detained individuals lost to the pandemic, weaving together grief and connection across distance. The Mandala Project by the Contraband Scholars provides meditative expressions of resilience, created as part of art programs at Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in New Jersey. The zine, Art for Healing: Self-Directed Art Therapy (2022), is a resource created by the Chicago Torture Justice System, with coping and wellness strategies for incarcerated individuals. Access Denied confronts the human toll of incarceration while exploring the capacity of art to foster healing, connection, and agency in spaces of confinement.