A touring photography exhibit by artists behind bars will make its next stop at the Ann Arbor Art Fair July 20-22.
Humanize the Numbers, which features 45 photos by 36 incarcerated men, was launched at the Detroit Historical Museum earlier this year. It’s organized by the University of Michigan Prison Creative Arts Project in a course where students take weekly trips to a Michigan state prison to collaborate with incarcerated men.
José Burgos, who served 27 years in prison, will have two pieces in the show at the Ann Arbor Art Fair. Burgos said the project reflects his feelings of being reduced to a number while he was locked up.
“When you get incarcerated, you’re given a prison number, and you’re told, ‘Remember this because from now on, this is who you’re going to be,’” Burgos said in a statement. “Humanizing the Numbers captured the true essence of who we are as men. We’re family people; we have people who love us. It conveyed that even after we caused harm and were counted accountable for it and sent to prison, we're all still human at the end of the day.”
Burgos now works as a reentry specialist for the Michigan State Appellate Defender Office and stays in touch with many of his colleagues who are still incarcerated.
“I send them pictures of food, trips, conferences, special places I visit, or people I meet. They tell me they are living through my eyes,” he said. “When I share these pictures, I’m telling them, no matter how long you’ve been there, you can come out here and have a life outside incarceration. You can still return to the community, help others and find a sense of purpose and joy.”
Jamal Biggs is another featured artist with a self-portrait of him holding a childhood photo of him and several family members. Half of his relatives in the photo died at a young age and only one of them remained in contact with him after his incarceration.
Biggs said his work represents “the pain and blessing of prison — severely straining and often severing family relationships. But also giving me time to grow up and saving me from the same fate of dying young which has befallen my other family members.”
In the show, the work is organized into different themes like self-reflection, means of coping, experiences with the criminal justice system, humanization of prisoners, and the impact incarceration has on families.
“This exhibit aims to highlight the personal impacts — and costs — of the prison system, encourage empathy-building with people who are in prison, and inspire future action in support of people who are in prison,” U of M lecturer Isaac Wingfield said. Wingfield created the concept for the exhibit and teaches the Humanize the Numbers course, which won him the 2023 Provost’s Teaching Innovation Prize.
Humanize the Numbers will be on display on the corner of Main and Liberty streets during the Ann Arbor Art Fair. The outdoor festival is considered the nation’s largest juried fine arts fair with roughly 1,000 participating artists, live music, and art demonstrations.
For more information, see theannarborartfair.com.
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