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Some of Art for Justice Fund’s leadership, grantee partners and staff recently traveled to the west coast to expand support for ending mass incarceration. Raising needed donations, forging new partnerships and convening artists and activists was all part of a busy few days in and around Los Angeles. We’re excited to share the results.

Collaboration with Frieze, Endeavor Foundation and the Getty Museum

Art for Justice Fund’s founding donor and Getty Trustee and Board Chair Emerita, Maria Hummer-Tuttle, welcomed Art for Justice to the Getty Museum to present its work. A gala reception was attended by Klaus Biesenbach, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; artist Marina Abramovic; architect Kulapat Yantrasast; artist Alex Israel; and director of the Studio Museum of Harlem, Thelma Golden.
(L-R) Jim Cuno, Maria Hummer-Tuttle, Catherine Gund, Ari Emanuel and Bettina Korek
Photo Credit: Owen Kolasinski/BFA.com

Writer, actress and grantee partner Liza Jessie Peterson performed a scene from her award-winning show, The Peculiar Patriot. Her character, Betsy LaQuanda Ross, shows the deleterious harm, racial bias and profiteering in mass incarceration. As Betsy says, “Once you hear the hand cuffs go ca-chink, you hear the cash register go ca-ching!”
Liza Jessie Peterson
Photo Credit: Owen Kolasinski/BFA.com

Art for Justice Governing Board member and filmmaker Catherine Gund led a discussion with grantee partners: artist Hank Willis Thomas; the poet, legal scholar and Art for Justice donor Dwayne Betts; and Tyra Patterson, a community outreach specialist with the Ohio Justice and Policy Center. The panelists invoked the power of art in reforming the criminal justice system and expanded our imagination about how to end mass incarceration. When asked by an audience member how to help, Catherine shared that Agnes Gund’s initial gift covered five years of grantmaking. If $20 million is raised, Art for Justice can support a sixth and final year of grantmaking so new strategies combining art and advocacy are able to reach scale. To date, donors have contributed $10 million to this crucial effort. To join our Major and Founding Donors, please contact Sue Simon, Donor and Artist Liaison, at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .
"It is not just us who need to act. It’s people like you who can leverage your privilege. Our liberations are tied together."
–Tyra Patterson

At the end of the evening, an exciting announcement was made: Frieze, Endeavor and the Art for Justice Fund launched the Frieze Impact Prize. In May, an award of $25,000 will be given for a piece of art that helps change the narrative about mass incarceration, with special consideration given to justice-involved artists. Visit the Frieze Impact Prize site ([link removed]) for more information. Both the program and Prize announcement were covered by outlets including the LA Times ([link removed]) , The Hollywood Reporter ([link removed]) , THE ART NEWSPAPER ([link removed]) and the Getty
([link removed]) itself.
"Creativity is obviously the only thing that might save us, along with generosity – and a healthy bit of fear. My real, fundamental question is: What act of creativity might allow a police officer for a split second to see me as a human being?"
–Hank Willis Thomas

Aggie on the Silver Screen

Fresh from its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, Catherine Gund screened Aggie ([link removed]) to a packed audience at the Hammer Museum. The movie explores the nexus of culture and justice through the prism of Agnes Gund’s life. It’s an inquisitive, instructional and at times funny exploration of how Art for Justice’s founder approaches collecting, activism and life. Through conversations with curators, artists, collectors and even her grandchildren, we gain a sharper understanding of the power of art to inspire empathy and instigate justice.
(L-R) Eric Gottesman, guest, Hank Willis Thomas, Helena Huang, Tanya Selvaratnam, Kristin Sakoda
Photo Credit: Owen Kolasinski/BFA.com
Additional screening photos ([link removed])

Housing and Services Provide a Welcome Home

In Long Beach, we celebrated grantee partner Susan Burton, founder of A New Way of Life Reentry Project ([link removed]) , as she cut a bright red ribbon on the warm and inviting Hoffman House. The residence is the latest of eight that the organization runs in Los Angeles to support formerly incarcerated women and their children in rebuilding their lives. In 1998, Susan opened her first program: a three-bedroom safe house in the South LA neighborhood of Watts.

Having saved money from her job as a caterer, Burton met women at the bus station as they returned from prison and welcomed them into her home. Twenty-two years later, more than 1,100 women and children have found safety and support via A New Way of Life and over 300 women have been reunited with their children.
Susan Burton inside the Hoffman House.
Photo Credit: Sue Simon
"Real change only happens through a powerful grassroots community organizing effort, one that can amass enough political power to bring an end to discriminatory practices, and shift public attitudes in a way that breaks the cycle of mass incarceration."
–Susan Burton

Breaking Bread and Creating Change

Thanks to our hosts at the Underground Museum, we ended our time in Los Angeles with a soulful conversation around a big table. Attended by community and grantee partners, artists and advocates described their work to shift policies, practices and the narrative around mass incarceration and ideas to secure greater impact via enhanced collaboration. At Art for Justice, we’re rooted in the core belief that art is transformative and that artists and advocates can create lasting change together. Everyone went home encouraged to continue sharing the powerful alchemy of art and advocacy.
The Underground Museum graciously opened its garden for a conversation with artists and advocates focused on ending mass incarceration.
Photo Credit: Pretty Instant
Additional dinner photos ([link removed])
"When even one of our young people speaks of how normalized prison culture is in their community, we veteran activists know we still have much more work to do …"
–Luis Rodriguez, former California Poet Laureate,
long-time activist and Art for Justice grantee partner
We’re fortunate to do this work alongside you, together.

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