United States: a wrongfully incarcerated artist discusses prison at the Brooklyn Public Library

For 10 months in 2013–14, the artist Sherrill Roland was incarcerated at Washington, DC’s notorious Central Detention Facility after being convicted of a crime he did not commit. He was eventually released and exonerated, but the experience changed him profoundly. Ever since, he’s devoted much of his artistic practice to facilitating more open conversations about the US criminal justice system.

Roland began donning a neon orange jumpsuit, similar to the one he wore in jail, in public places while completing his master’s degree at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. That marked the beginning of The Jumpsuit Project, an ongoing social practice piece he’s brought to museums, libraries, and college campuses, where he engages strangers in conversations about their experiences with incarceration, the prison system, and the impact of both on communities. This week, he’ll be at the central branch of the Brooklyn Public Library for three days.

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