The American Prison Writing Archive, Johns Hopkins Wavelengths, and Project PAINT invite justice-impacted artists and allies to create original artwork inspired by twenty-five of the essays by incarcerated writers archived at Johns Hopkins University.

Selected works will be featured alongside the essays that inspired them in a public exhibition at Alcatraz Island National Park in 2027, with additional works presented in an online gallery.

Deadline: November 16th, 2026

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Individual artists and organizations working with system-impacted artists are welcome to apply. To participate, please use the application link below to submit:

✓ A high-resolution digital copy of your two-dimensional artwork based on
an APWA essay

✓ An Image Release Form

✓ An Artist Statement (optional)

* Artwork can be made in connection with a class or independently.
** Can be any medium (painting, drawing, comic, collage, etc.)

DEADLINE TO SUBMIT:
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16th, 2026

ABout the Collaborators

American Prison Writing Archive

The mission of the American Prison Writing Archive (APWA) is to replace misrepresentation of prisons and imprisoned people with first-person witness by those living in legalized confinement. No single essay can tell us all that we need to know, but a mass-scale national Archive can begin to strip away widely circulated myths and replace them with a sense of the true human costs of the current legal order. By soliciting, preserving, digitizing, and disseminating the work of imprisoned people and volunteers, we hope to ground national debate on mass incarceration in the lived experience of those who know prisons best.

The APWA aims to triple its current holdings, with particular efforts to expand witness from people in the Archive who are women, gender non-conforming, Spanish-speaking, and representative residents from all states and territories. We invite all APWA visitors who are formerly incarcerated, work with, or know incarcerated people to help us in increasing contributions that document the prison experience.

Johns Hopkins Wavelengths

Research fuels the engine of progress; the Johns Hopkins Wavelengths public engagement program brings the benefits of university discoveries to the world through the development and promotion of strategic content for diverse audiences, inspired by its research community.

In classrooms, field stations, and laboratories in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and around the world, Hopkins experts are expanding understanding of complex challenges and opportunities. Wavelengths brings listeners, readers, viewers, and visitors inside their stories, presenting discoveries, innovations, and viewpoints that benefit people locally and globally. Through nonfiction books—and the media coverage, events, exhibits, and partnership projects they inspire—researchers’ insights spark curiosity and conversation across the web, radio, television, and public life.

Wavelengths is a partnership between the Johns Hopkins University Press and the Office of the Vice Provost for Research. We encourage a diversity of authors, topics, and perspectives, and present content that's approachable, accurate, and engaging. The program supports the University's "Knowledge for the World" vision by bridging the academic and public spheres.