Arise Collective

Inclusive Public Art Initiative

Arise Collective, in Raleigh, NC, received an Inclusive Public Art Initiative grant from ZSR.

Arise Collective (formerly Interfaith Prison Ministry for Women) has worked with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women in North Carolina for 43 years. This project is an expansion of an art installation, The Stitching Stories Quilt, that was crocheted by women at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women (NCCIW) during COVID as a way to share the stories of what women survive before, during and after incarceration. This public art project expands upon the original artists’ vision, taking the community-engaged, storytelling concept of the original quilt and reimagining it in a modular format, made from durable materials, designed for both travel and permanent installation.

In 2020, within weeks of the initial COVID-19 outbreak in North Carolina, the virus began to impact the lives of women serving sentences at NCCIW. Visitations and programming stopped, incarcerated people and prison staff became sick en mass, and quarantine policies meant that incarcerated people spent most hours of the day confined to their bed space. In the minimum-security prison at NCCIW, the Handmade and Totally Special (H.A.T.S.) group, who had been crocheting together for years on behalf of the children of incarcerated and returning parents, began to think of ways they could stay engaged in something meaningful despite the COVID-related restrictions. These resident artists turned to crochet as a way to heal and tell their stories. 

The Stitching Stories: A Prison Awareness Quilt was finished just before Mother’s Day 2021, a date marking more than a year of being unable to physically see their children and families. The squares and ribbons on the quilt convey what many women in prison have survived: years in prison, addiction, sexual assault, COVID-19, domestic violence, mental health issues, separation from children and the loss of loved ones while incarcerated. 

Expanding public awareness about women’s incarceration is imperative given the shocking female incarceration trends: over the last 20 years, female incarceration has increased 475%—twice the rate of men—and 82% for non-violent crimes. The data illuminate a need for more rehabilitative state-sponsored programming in place of carceral systems.

Four artists are included on the project team: Carlos González García, David Wilson, Eliza Redmann and Owens Daniels. Centering the voices of justice-involved women, key partners in this project are the women with whom Arise Collective works, represents and supports, along with community partners including Benevolence Farm, which will serve as the first temporary installation site in southern Alamance County. 

This artwork will travel to multiple sites across the state before being permanently installed in Raleigh, NC.