Breaking Barriers: Art as Social Justice

Breaking Barriers: Art as Social Justice presents original artwork created by emerging artists from Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Guild program—a paid apprenticeship for formerly incarcerated individuals and young adults on probation—and State Correctional Institution: Phoenix. Through an exchange of letters and images, these artists created a collaborative body of work that gives voice to the experiences and perspectives of individuals largely silent in our society. This exhibition is the culmination of a partnership between Mural Arts, the Barnes, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Breaking Barriers: Art as Social Justice is on view in the first-floor classroom of the Barnes Collection Gallery July 11 through August 8, and is freewith Barnes general admission. Mural Arts’ Restorative Justice program engages individuals who are incarcerated, on probation, or on work release. The program provides opportunities for these individuals to reconnect with society in productive ways through community engagement, skill-building, and collaborative mural projects.