Between the Lines

This poetry reading and print launch event culminates Between the Lines—CBA 2021 Workspace Artist in Residence Rowan Renee‘s (they/them) year-long project of correspondence-driven workshops with LGBTQ+ artists and writers incarcerated in Florida and Texas. Through this project, Renee sought to create a support network for incarcerated participants by maintaining regular correspondence as an abolitionist mutual aid practice.

The Between the Lines event presents six poetry and print collaborations between NYC-based artists and artists/writers incarcerated in Florida and Texas: Claudia Cortínez + Scott Munro; Faride Mereb + Master Ramsey-El; Adama Delphine Fawundu + Bro. Truth; Alix Pentecost-Farren + Maurice Young; Oswaldo García + Willie McPhee; and Rowan Renee + Edee Allynnah Davis.

Each collaborative project explores the printed multiple as a powerful vehicle to build relationships and dialogue across prison walls. By conveying the lived experiences of the collaborators through creative text and imagery to a large audience, this reading celebrates the resilience of the artistic spirit while advocating for the fundamental dignity of all people living in confinement.

This event is generously supported by the City Artist Corps, a grant intended to activate and energize New York City’s artists and engage the public with art activities this summer and fall. Additional support is provided by We, Women Photo.

About the Artist

Rowan Renee (they/them) (b. 1985, West Palm Beach, Florida) is a genderqueer artist currently working in Brooklyn, NY. Their work explores how queer identity is mediated by the law. Through image, text, and installation, they address the impact of intergenerational trauma and gender-based violence within the criminal justice system. Their solo exhibitions include Z at Pioneer Works (2015) and Bodies of Wood at the Aperture Foundation (2017). They have received awards from the Aaron Siskind Foundation, the Harpo Foundation, and the Red Bull House of Art in Detroit. Between the Lines, their current project with We, Women Photo, is a collaboration with LGBTQ+ incarcerated artists in Florida. Their installation, No Spirit For Me (2019), is included in the critically acclaimed exhibition Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration, curated by Dr. Nicole R. Fleetwood, at MoMA PS1.