The Northwestern Prison Education Program (NPEP) is an initiative of Northwestern University to provide a high-quality liberal arts education to incarcerated students in Illinois in partnership with Oakton College and the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC). NPEP is the only bachelor’s degree-granting program for incarcerated students offered by a top 10 university in the United States. At the foundation of NPEP’s work lies the transformative power of education.

The Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Visibility Initiative (VI) is a student-led organization that aims to promote diversity and mental health through shared encounters with art and aesthetics. Comprised of students, staff, faculty, and alumni, VI creates exhibits, workshops, and spaces for community across the NLaw campus.

The artworks of this exhibition were created by NPEP students in response to the following prompt:

“What do you want to be known about yourself, past, present, or future?”

Antony “Talib” Bell, Blanca Solis, Bonnie D. Shelesny, Chelsea Raker, Cincere Knowledge (Jamal Jones), Cindy Shepheard-Robinette, DeWayne Power Robinson, Demetrice “DC” Crite, E.L. Burnside, Edmond Duffin, Erika Ray, Flynard “Fly” Miller, Hugo Ocon, Ian Valencia, Jeanine A. Elam, Margaret DeFrancisco, Melinda Warble, Miguelangel Garcia, Palfrid (Frid) Mihindou, Patricia Ouska (Patty), Rochelle, Tosha

Across several workshops, students discussed art’s power to communicate and heal. They utilized form, theme, and context to create meaning in their work. In critique circles, they worked with one another to strengthen their narratives, making changes in composition, color, and tone.

The term “epistemic reparations” was coined by Jennifer Lackey, Wayne and Elizabeth Jones Professor of Philosophy at Northwestern University, to describe the right to be known— to experience the transformative potential of telling one’s story and being heard.

As you walk through the exhibit today, allow yourself to encounter each student through their artwork. Bear witness to their stories. Hear and see what they want to be known.

You may access each artist’s statement and biography, as well as an enlarged image of their artwork, by selected the arrow to the right of each image in the exhibit galleries. 

If an artwork within the exhibit particularly resonates with you, please consider sharing your response with the corresponding artist. You may utilize this digital guestbook to respond to an artist’s work.

All messages will be shared at the conclusion of the exhibit.