Inside / Outside
Opening Reception: Saturday, December 5, 2026 from 4-6PM: RSVP here
Member’s Preview: Saturday, December 5, 2026 from 3-4PM RSVP Here
Admission is free, with donations encouraged. Plan your visit here
MoCA\CT presents Inside/Outside, three related exhibitions exploring the physical and emotional walls of incarceration: Jesse Krimes: Elegy Quilts, the Community Partners in Action (CPA) Prison Arts Annual Show, and Veronica May Clark: Singing Inside a Glass of Water (December 5, 2026 – March 14, 2027).
Jesse Krimes: Elegy Quilts features works made from clothing and textiles donated by currently or formerly incarcerated people. Drawing on his own experience of imprisonment, Krimes worked with participants who shared memories of home and selected animals to represent themselves within the quilts. The resulting scenes hold stories of absence, resilience, and connection: in Marion, an empty chair and discarded boots evoke a person separated from home, while a crane represents his longing for freedom. A newer work, Riverside, grew out of workshops with young adults in Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Restorative Justice Program and turned toward their hopes for the future. Organized by The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) in Philadelphia, the traveling exhibition is curated by Kelly Shindler, FWM Executive Director, with Hilde Nelson, FWM Curatorial Fellow.
Krimes has exhibited internationally at institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA PS1, the Palais de Tokyo, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, Creative Capital, Rauschenberg Foundation, and the Art for Justice Fund. His work is held in major collections including the Brooklyn Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The CPA Prison Arts Annual Show, displays more than 700 works by over 150 artists currently incarcerated in Connecticut prisons. The exhibition grew out of Community Partners in Action’s Prison Arts Program, which has supported artistic practice in Connecticut prisons since 1978, offering participants opportunities to develop their skills, express themselves, and connect with others through art.
An audio and video installation in the adjacent screening room brings visitors closer to the voices and work of formerly incarcerated artists. In the inner gallery, Veronica May Clark: Singing Inside a Glass of Water follows Clark’s practice from drawings on notebook paper that record the sensory details of life in prison to richly layered, handwoven abstractions. Working with limited materials, including fashion magazines and paper bags, Clark takes them apart and reassembles them into works that speak to persistence and identity. Jeffrey Greene, who has led CPA’s Prison Arts Program for more than 35 years, curates both exhibitions.
MoCA\CT presents these intertwined exhibitions displaying the work of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated artists not to excuse or diminish the consequences of criminal behavior, but as proof that the human mind remains active, observant, imaginative, and resilient even in a place designed to take away those agencies. Incarceration inherently strips away autonomy and often reduces people to record numbers or offenses. Artistic creation restores personal agency, allowing individuals to define themselves by their talent, perspective, and voice rather than their sentence. Exhibiting work by justice-impacted artists encourages empathy and prompts visitors to engage in meaningful conversations about accountability, rehabilitation, mass incarceration, and prison reform.
Admission to the Museum of Contemporary Art Connecticut is free throughout the Inside/Outside exhibitions, as it is for all Community Partners in Action (CPA) Prison Arts Annual Shows, allowing families and loved ones of incarcerated artists to experience their work throughout the show.
Visitors are encouraged to support MoCA\CT through a donation. Your generosity helps sustain our exhibitions, public programs, and other offerings that bring art and community together.
This exhibition is made possible by
The Joyce Thompson Art Fund + Heavy Weather Fund + Gary and Susie Singer Arts & Culture Foundation + Kathryn Turley-Sonne
Below:
(L) Jesse Krimes, Red Eagle, antique quilt, used clothing collected from incarcerated people, assorted textiles, 2020; private collection.
(R) Jesse Krimes, Redwing, antique quilt, used clothing collected from incarcerated people, assorted textiles, 2021; The Collection of Timothy and Stephanie Ingrassia.
