Visual Art for Liberation
Connecting incarcerated artists with opportunities to create, exhibit, and share their work while building pathways to professional creative careers.
Learn moreEmpowerment Avenue
Using Art, Journalism, Writing, and Film
to Create Opportunities for People in Prison
OUR
MISSION
Our mission is to normalize the inclusion of incarcerated writers, filmmakers and artists in mainstream venues by bridging the gap between them and harnessing this creative proximity as a path to de-carceration and public safety.
To achieve our mission we have a twofold strategy. We support the most talented writers and artists in prisons across the country, providing them the resources they need to get their creative work outside prison walls, be fairly compensated, and contribute their creativity to the movements of abolition, de-carceration, and liberation of incarcerated people.
Secondly, we support capacity building for publications, galleries, museums and other organizations committed to this work, to help them meaningfully center currently-incarcerated people in creative spaces while fairly compensating them.
Turning creativity into opportunity
Through art, writing, journalism, and film, we create pathways for incarcerated people to share their stories, develop their talents, and access meaningful opportunities. Explore our three programs that make this work possible.
Writing for Liberation
Supporting incarcerated writers through mentorship, publication opportunities, and professional pathways that bring their stories to wider audiences.
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Film for Liberation
Using documentary storytelling and film to amplify the voices of incarcerated people and inspire dialogue, understanding, and narrative change.
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Now at inStudio
The Distance Between:Traveling Beyond Count Time
Currently on view at Empowerment Avenue’s inStudio in Oakland, The Distance Between: Traveling Beyond Count Time features work by currently and formerly incarcerated artists reflecting memory, endurance, and imagination. The exhibition explores the space between confinement and liberation, inviting us to see differently and imagine a world beyond systems of punishment.
The exhibition features Orlando O. Smith, whose work is also the focus of O. Smith: Artivist, a solo exhibition at SFMOMA, on view July 25, 2026–June 20, 2027.
Artists on view
- Alvin Smith
- Christopher “Khalifah” Christensen
- Corey Devon Arthur
- Jeffrey Isom
- Krysta Morningstarr*
- M. Seishin Cádiz
- Markus Xcells
- Orlando Smith aka “O. Smith”
Experience more of Orlando’s work alongside artists from across the EA community at inStudio.
Upcoming events
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Our impact in 2025
Creating Real Change
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