Faith Ringgold gained prominence as an artist prior to her passing at 91. Her 1971 mural, For the Women's House, was created for a women's detention center on Rikers Island, symbolizing hope for incarcerated women. The documentary Paint Me a Road Out of Here explores the harsh realities of Rikers and the mural's journey to the Brooklyn Museum. Despite the darkness faced by women in prison, Ringgold's work is a reminder of their potential to transcend their circumstances, as noted by a former guard who remarked that they only moved the women, not the painting itself.
"No one and nothing is safe in a prison, including the guards, the inmates, the walls, the furniture and especially that painting."
"They didn't move the painting, they just moved the women," says Barbara Drummond, a former guard at Rikers.
Ringgold created the painting For the Women's House for a detention building at Rikers for women, aiming to remind those incarcerated that their lives didn't need to end behind bars.
The painting is now at the Brooklyn Museum, on a ten-year loan from the New York City Department of Correction, showcasing its long journey.
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