Photography Exhibit Bolsters Call for Juvenile Justice Reform
Community-Sponsored Exhibit Reveals Treatment of Children Behind Bars
New Orleans, LA – Oct. 20, 2015 – The Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights and its community partners are offering New Orleanians a glimpse into the hidden world of juvenile incarceration via a nationally acclaimed photography exhibit. Created by photographer Richard Ross, the Juvenile In Justice exhibit exposes the treatment of children in Orleans Parish Prison and jails across the country through powerful photographs and personal narratives.
“Juvenile In Justice is a call to action, and it’s coming to New Orleans at a critical time,” says LCCR Executive Director Josh Perry. “Some of Ross’ most heartbreaking photographs of imprisoned children were taken right here in New Orleans. We can take common-sense steps right now to help these children – including, most urgently, removing all children under 18 from the Orleans Parish Prison.”
During the exhibit opening on October 22, LCCR will release Keep Children Out of Orleans Parish Prison, a report calling for an end to the detention of children in one of the worst jails in the nation. A petition will also be circulated asking the New Orleans City Council to remove all children from the adult jail. The petition has already garnered almost 1,000 signatures onChange.org.
Juvenile In Justice is sponsored by a diverse group of community organizations and local universities that are working toward a better future for New Orleans’ youth. Over the next month, partners will hold events in the exhibition space – from speaking engagements to student events – in order to broaden awareness around issues of juvenile justice and youth development in New Orleans.
One partner, the Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies at UNO, worked with area high school students to create art that reimagines a world without prisons, a selection of which will be included in the exhibition. “The LCCR project and Richard Ross exhibit,” explains Professor Ben Weber, “provides the perfect opportunity for young people to respond creatively to an issue that directly affects them, while helping us older folks to imagine possibilities for a different future.”
Curated by Gia M. Hamilton of the Joan Mitchell Center, Juvenile In Justice is on view from October 23rd to November 20th in the Myrtle Banks Building at 1307 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. More information and a list of partner events can be found on the event page.
The Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights is a nonprofit law center that defends the right of every child in Louisiana’s juvenile justice system to fairness, dignity, and opportunity. We couple direct services with systems reform advocacy to create a smaller, safer, fairer juvenile justice system.
The Joan Mitchell Center’s mission is to support local, national, and international contemporary visual artists. The Center provides a place for creation, innovation and transformation for artists, while supporting values of community, diversity, and social equity in New Orleans.
Contact Renée Slajda at rslajda@laccr.org or (203) 231-7285.
Exhibit sponsors are:
The Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights
The Joan Mitchell Center
African & African Diaspora Studies, Tulane University
Alembic Community Development
Amistad Research Center
Baptist Community Ministries
The Center for Restorative Approaches
Creative Alliance of New Orleans
Division of Social & Behavioral Sciences, Xavier University
Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children
Innocence Project New Orleans
Institute of Women & Ethnic Studies
Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies, University of New Orleans
Orleans Parish Place Matters
Reconcile New Orleans
The Southern Poverty Law Center
Urban League of Greater New Orleans
Women With A Vision
Gallery located on the THIRD FLOOR, please use the side entrance on Erato St.
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