Art from the Deep Southwest

In May 2009, a woman by the name of Marcia Powell died after being left without shade or water in a cage in the desert sun at Perryville Prison. Looking for information about conditions in Arizona's state prisons in the aftermath, I found little on the subject that wasn't published by the AZ Department of Corrections itself. In time I learned that the prison homicide and suicide rates under the present administration, led by Governor Jan Brewer, had doubled, and were twice that of the national average.

Consequently, that summer,  Arizona Prison Watch was launched to help the community monitor, navigate, survive and dismantle the prison industrial complex in my state, and soonafter I began to chalk our capital city's sidewalks with messages of abolition, as well as the names of the AZ DOC's dead. My goal has been to make visible the people we've exiled to our prison system, as well as their struggles, while trying to alleviate some of their suffering.

This is unpaid work, so thank you for your contribution to the cause.  Please visit Signs of Resistance: Art from the Deep Southwest for your gift, or to request custom products with my images.