Exhibit Portrays Pain of Imprisoned Women & Their Kids

 A dramatic and heart-wrenching art exhibit that for the past two years
has drawn attention to the plight of incarcerated mothers in the United
States will have one of its final showings at the University of
Illinois at Chicago later this month.

In addition to art created by women in prison, the exhibit will also
feature works created by the children of incarcerated mothers, whose
lives are interrupted along with those of their parents.

"Interrupted Life: Incarcerated Mothers in the United States," a
traveling public art exhibition, will be on display in the Montgomery
Ward Gallery in Student Center East, 750 S. Halsted St., from Aug. 24
through Sept. 23.

An opening reception will be held Sept. 2, 4-7 p.m. The event is free
and open to the public.

According to the Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers, over
82 percent of women incarcerated in Illinois are mothers, and
nationwide, more than 10 million children have had a parent imprisoned
at some point in their lives.

The creator of the exhibit is Rickie Solinger, a historian and author
of books about reproductive and welfare politics.

The exhibition, which is open each week Monday through Thursday from
noon to 9 p.m. and Friday from noon to 5 p.m., is hosted by UIC's Jane
Addams College of Social Work, in collaboration with the department of
sociology, Social Science Research Center, The Women's Center, and
Women's and Gender Studies Program at DePaul University; and the
Mansfield Institute for Social Justice and Transformation at Roosevelt
University.

For additional information or comment on the exhibition, contact
Patricia O'Brien, UIC associate professor of social work, at (312)
996-2203, pob@uic.edu. Her scholarship has focused on the concerns of
women after release from prison.