April 27 - June 24, 2027
This exhibition is free and open to all, Tuesdays - Thursdays, 11am - 3pm
Prison Papers: Reimagining Citizenship is a multidisciplinary exhibition that brings the arts together with research and education to explore questions of citizenship and inform our symbiotic understanding of, and commitment to, the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated.
The project advances courses and workshops on art and citizenship in local carceral settings across South Bend and Chicago, including Inside-Out courses led by Dr. Pam Butler at Westville Correctional Facility and Sam Sokolskiy-Tifft at South Bend Community Reentry Center. It also establishes a collaboration between Notre Dame’s Institute for Social Concerns and Chicago-based organization Walls Turned Sideways to bring historical texts from their Prison Papers exhibition in dialogue with local contemporary expressions of citizenship by those currently and formerly incarcerated. The new joint exhibition will be curated and paired with an exhibition catalogue designed by Notre Dame students under the direction of professor Dave Pabellon.
Learn more about the project and creative team
About the Venue
The Colfax Cultural Center gallery is located at 914 Lincoln Way West. The center is the oldest remaining Victorian school house in South Bend, and has been repurposed to serve as low-cost studios for artists, office space for businesses and social services, and a gallery for local art exhibits, including the annual “Art and Social Justice” show. The building is equipped with ADA compliant stairs. The gallery is open for viewing Tuesdays through Thursdays from 11:00am – 3:00pm. Visits outside of those hours within the hours of 9:00am – 5:00pm can be scheduled by appointment most days. Please contact the South Bend Heritage Foundation, which operates the gallery, at (574) 289-1066 with accessibility questions or requests.
Funding & Support
This exhibition is made possible with funding from Notre Dame’s Institute for Social Concerns, Gender Studies Program, and Department of Art, Art History, and Design. The exhibition is curated in collaboration with Walls Turned Sideways.
Reimagining Citizenship is a partner program of the 2027 Notre Dame Arts Biennial and is supported with funding from the Notre Dame Arts Initiative.
Image: Installation view of Prison Papers: Organizing Inside/Outside Solidarity exhibition at Walls Turned Sideways, summer 2026. Photos courtesy of Dave Pabellon.