Incorrigible Girls: An Exhibit at Brooklyn Federal Courthouse

A new exhibit, Bear Witness: Incorrigible Girls of New York, which will feature the works of artists Alison Cornyn and Beth Thielen, and document the history of girls’ incarceration in New York State over the last 100 years has opened at the Charles P. Sifton Gallery.

Cornyn’s work, with her project Incorrigibles, features archival images and documentation from the New York State Training School for Girls, oral histories of women who were incarcerated there in the 1960s and 70s, and a short film about the history of girls’ incarceration.

The exhibition also features work by artist Beth Thielen, known for her one-of-a-kind Artists Books and public art projects, written works by girls and women who currently are or formerly were incarcerated, and a young artist currently enrolled in an alternative to incarceration program at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse.

This exhibition is made in partnership with the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse and For Freedoms, an organization devoted to inclusive civic participation through the arts that originally was inspired by American artist Norman Rockwell’s paintings of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms (1941): freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

Incorrigibles is a documentary art project born out of the stories and lives of girls and young women incarcerated in the United States from 1900 to the present day. The Incorrigibles project uses different media to share these stories, including art exhibitions, short films, storytelling, free public events, workshops for girls, a website, and an artist book. In a convergence of art and social responsibility, Incorrigibles utilizes storytelling as a way to better understand and dialogue about juvenile justice and social services for girls.

The exhibit runs through January 11, 2019 at the Charles P. Sifton Gallery, Theodore Roosevelt United States Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza E, Brooklyn. It is open to the public on weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm.

For a list of past gallery exhibitions, click here.

Photo of Incorrigibles exhibit provided.