Media Contact:
Katie Murray
Director, Orange County Arts Commission
919/245-2335
kmurray@orangecountync.gov
Hillsborough, NC – The Orange County Arts Commission and Orange County Arts Alliance, in partnership with End Solitary NC/Disability Rights North Carolina, Hidden Voices, Alamance Orange Prison Ministry, Orange County Justice Project NC, Human Kindness Foundation, Orange County Criminal Justice Resource Department, OC Local Reentry Council, the Care Bear Foundation, NC Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, and the Orange County Department of Equity and Inclusion announce Rekindling: Voices of Restoration and Resilience taking place at the Eno Arts Mill Gallery in Hillsborough during April, 2025.
The exhibit will include artwork from formerly and currently incarcerated individuals, artwork from justice-impacted individuals from the local community, and installations centered around the carceral system.
The exhibit will open on Friday April 4, 7-9pm and will feature performances by NC Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green, poet and spoken word artist Nick Courmon, and music by Changed, a band formed while its members were incarcerated at Orange Correctional Center.
Rekindling partners have been working for more than a year on the project, with the goals of raising awareness, educating the community, and fostering an appreciation for the impacts of the criminal legal system and incarceration on human lives.
We must recognize that most people in prisons have caused significant harm—through gang involvement, addiction, and violence. Many of us have been victims of crime and know how deeply it can unsettle our faith in humanity. Victims are forever changed by the consequences of crime. However, we must also acknowledge that “victim” and “offender” are not separate. Those incarcerated have experienced their own traumas—neglect, abuse, and failure. To seek restoration and justice, we must recognize their pain as well. These individuals have been treated as disposable by society. I hope this exhibit helps us connect with our shared humanity and break the cycle of apathy, states Tiffany Bullard, Orange County Local Reentry Council Case Manager.
Art has a way to convey our society’s most challenging topics in a way that is unifying and tells a person’s story through a medium we can all understand. It is a powerful tool used in many carceral systems as a channel for self-expression, to boost morale and confidence, and to reduce recidivism, states Orange County Arts Commission director Katie Murray.
Additional programming will be offered throughout the month. Check artsorange.org and follow @OCNCarts on social media for updates.
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