Art at a Time Like This,  a nonprofit arts organization,  announces its continuation of 8X5,  a public
art project named for the size of an average prison cell.  This timely public intervention in Miami presents the work of artists responding to mass incarceration and inequalities in the justice system.  Originally launched in Miami in June 2022,  8x5 will return to Miami in December 2022 during Art Week.

8X5 will highlight the creativity of Miami artists through an Open Call with the goal of finding 5 artists inspired by this issue.  Their work will be presented side-by-side with well-known artists who have had experience with the incarceral system, and/or are known to make politically engaged work.

This past June in Miami, participating artists included the Guerrilla Girls, Shepard Fairey,  Trenton Doyle Hancock,  Sherrill Roland,  Faylita Hicks and Sam Durant.  Now,  you too can be part of this project!

For this edition of 8x5,  Art At A Time Like This is looking to activate the exhibition on billboards and digital mobile trucks, bringing the artworks to important public spaces from November 29 to December 3.   Today,  ATLT is looking for local artists to create designs and art works that reflect and respond to the impact of the incarceral system  in their communities. 

Creating change through numbers,  ATLT is looking for text-based work inspired by statistics that demonstrate the profound depth of this problem in Florida as across the U.S. 

We hope the following statistics will inspire you:

• The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world

• Between 1980 and 2022, the number of people incarcerated increased from roughly 500,000 to 2.3 million.

  • Prisons are overpopulated. Since 1970, our incarcerated population has increased by 700%.

• While the United States represents about 4.2 percent of the world's population, it houses around 20 percent of the world's prisoners. 

  • Federal prosecutors have a 99.6% conviction rate

  • Only 2% of federal cases ever go to trial, while more than 90% of defendants take a plea bargain

• U.S. Attorneys filed 79,704 cases and only 320 cases resulted in acquittal in 2018, according to the latest figures

• As of October 2016, there have been 1900 exonerations of the wrongfully accused, 47% of the exonerated were Black.

• Blacks are incarcerated at more than 5 times the rate of whites.

• Spending on prisons and jails has increased at triple the rate of spending on Pre‐K‐12 public education in the last thirty years.

• In 2021 in southern Florida, including Miami, only 3 of 701 US federal criminal cases were found not guilty. Of those cases, only 10 went to trial with a jury.

Sources: US Department of Justice, The New York Times, Washington Post, Pew Charitable Trust 

DEADLINE:  October 17, 2022
Send hi-res jpegs or 15 sec videos to 
8x5@artatatimelikethis.com

“Everyday, our timelines and media feeds become overrun with the grief, fear, and terror of communities abused and neglected by their governments,”  stated  award-winning poet Faylita Hicks, adding, “In this angst-filled world—maliciously designed and curated by our so-called leaders—Art A Time Like This can and does provide the relief, hope, inspiration, and courage that so many are in need of.”  

 About the Organizers

Art at a Time Like This is a 501c3 organization that supports artists and curators in the 21st century, presenting art in direct response to current events. Utilizing public platforms (digital and IRL) , this organization presents art in a non-profit context, highlighting art as an invaluable conveyor of content,  rather than commodity.  Our mission is to show that art can make a difference and that artists and curators can be thought-leaders, envisioning alternative futures for humanity.  

Art at a Time Like This was founded on March 17, 2020 by independent curators Barbara Pollack and Anne Verhallen who saw the need for a new kind of alternative space to address the pandemic and other crises,  ever addressing the question,  “How can we think about art at a time like this?” 

8x5 Partners:

For Freedoms, Locust Projects, Bakehouse Art Complex, Perez Art Museum Miami, Save Art Space, Dream Defenders, Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, Spinello Projects

8x5 is funded by Art For Justice Fund, Jorge Mora, Fairfax Dorn, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP,  The Barton Family Foundation.