ArtReach St. Croix Mobile Art Gallery

ArtReach St Croix's Summer 2024 exhibit will be Artwork, once captive has gone free will open at ArtReach St. Croix in conjunction with the Members Show opening on Thursday, July 11 from 6-8pm. Check the schedule below to see where the Mobile Art Gallery will be popping up this summer and fall! 

• Members Show Opening Party / July 11, 6-8pm at ArtReach St. Croix
• Afton State Park / July 12-14
• Lumberjack Days / July 19-21
• ArtReach St. Croix / July 24
• Willow River State Park / July 26-28
• Franconia Sculpture Park / August 9-11
• Walker Art Center / August 17-18 

Featuring 6-word memoirs and visual artwork from incarcerated persons, “Artwork, once captive has gone free,” highlights the importance of the arts in restorative justice and education. This is the second exhibition collaborating with the prison, but the first time taking it on the road.

The artwork is anonymized and produced through a minimum yearlong art program that teaches not only principles of art, but also art history and technical skills through mediums such as graphite, watercolor, and acrylic paint. The 6-word memoirs that will cover the side wall of the Mobile Gallery are also created by inmates through the literary arts program.

In addition to the mobile gallery, there will also be a public lecture, “Is Art Enough to Free Us,” July 24th at 6pm at the Stillwater Public Library with former inmate, Zeke Caligiuri. An award winning author and advocate for creative spaces in prisons, Caligiuri will discuss his book, “This is where I am,” alongside his editor, Erik Anderson.

Developed in 2016, the Mobile Art Gallery exhibitions change from year to year, but itspurpose remains the same: to engage people with an unexpected arts experience in an unexpected place and to expand people’s curiosity about artistic resources and opportunities in the region.