Hamilton native’s exhibition of art by those who have been incarcerated to show in Cincinnati

Art curator and historian Nicole Fleetwood, a Hamilton native and Miami University graduate, won a MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellowship that came with $625,000 to advance the work she's doing. Her focus is on art by or about people who are incarcerated. CONTRIBUTED

Art curator and historian Nicole Fleetwood, a Hamilton native and Miami University graduate, won a MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellowship that came with $625,000 to advance the work she's doing. Her focus is on art by or about people who are incarcerated. CONTRIBUTED

A Hamilton native’s exhibition of works by people in U.S. prisons and former inmates will soon show at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

The University of Cincinnati College of Law is hosting a symposium on the topic called “Marking Time.” It will be at the University of Cincinnati campus at the Carl H. Lindner College of Business, conference room Lindner 1210 on Fri., July 15 and Sat., July 16.

Panels, workshops and events of the symposium will feature local artists and organizations committed to ending mass incarceration and transforming the criminal legal system. The “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration” exhibition created by Dr. Nicole R. Fleetwood, a professor of media, culture and communications at New York University, reflects on her commitment to the research and programming of the visual art and culture of mass incarceration.

The hours of the symposium are noon to 5 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. The “Marking Time” exhibition opens Sunday at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in downtown Cincinnati. It will be on display through Aug. 7.

The symposium is free and open to the public. Register at https://markingtime.eventbrite.com.

Fleetwood is from Hamilton and is a 1990 graduate of Hamilton High School. She also graduated from Miami University and Stanford University. She previously has won the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, which came with a $625,000 “Genius Grant” to support her work as an art curator, historian and writer on the topic of prisons.

In July 2021, Fleetwood became the first-ever James Weldon Johnson Professor at New York University. Johnson was the first Black professor hired by NYU, in 1934, and wrote the song, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which now is informally known as the “African-American National Anthem.”

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