Karen Ruckman, Peaceable Kingdom (1987)
Exhibition Dates: January 15 – March 5, 2026
Eye Street Gallery, 200 I St SE, Washington, DC 20003
Open Monday to Friday, 9 am to 6 pm
Register here for the Opening Reception on Thursday, January 15, 2026 at 6 pm
Inside Out: Dignity and the Art of Seeing is a groundbreaking exhibition that turns the camera around, placing power and self-perception in the hands of incarcerated photographers whose images and stories stand as a testament to the way image-making can change lives.
Emerging from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities' pioneering 1980s "Arts In Prison" initiative and rooted in the vision of documentary photographer and educator Karen Ruckman, the exhibition brings together never-before-seen works by women photographers in DC Jail with historic images by men in Lorton Prison. Inside Out illuminates a vital chapter in prison arts education where photography became a tool for self-definition, solidarity, and community-building.
At its core, Inside Out asks: Who gets to control the narrative of incarceration? In these images, the camera is not an instrument of surveillance, but a means of liberation and refusal. Each photograph represents a deliberate choice about how to be seen, a declaration of agency rather than a reduction to a number, a case file, or a stereotype.
The exhibition is funded by a DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities FY26 Art Exhibition Grant and is co-curated by Emma Pearce and Vikki Tobak, produced by Alexandra Silverthorne, and printed by Frank Hallam Day.
It features photography by Rodney Abney, Anwar Abdul Adil, Willie Battle, Eugene Clark El, Anthony Cross, Alonzo Davis, Sidney Davis, Calvin Gorham, Gerry Grey-Bey, Gary Keith Griffin, Martha Hubbard, Chris Keller, Eugene Lake, Alva Manning, David Mitchell El, Michael Moses El, Delores New, James Pellum, Antoinette Queen, Linda Ross, Karen Ruckman, Bernard Seaborn, Diane Smith Bey, Victoria Tedesco, and Valencia Whittle.
Learn more about the exhibition and its partners here: photochangellc.com
Instagram: @InLortonsDarkroom
List of Exhibition Events:
Opening Reception with musical guests Loc’d N Band:
- Thursday, January 15th, 2026
- 6 PM to 8 PM
- 200 I (Eye) Street SE, Washington, DC 20003
- RSVP Today
Artist Talk:
This artist talk will be moderated by Vikki Tobak in conversation with Ghia Ridley Hobbs (WBR Empowerment Legacy Foundation, Inc.), Nicole Porter (The Sentencing Project) and photographers Beverly Price, Karen Ruckman, and Bernard Seaborn.
- Thursday, February 5th, 2026
- 6 PM to 8 PM (talk starting at 6:30pm)
- 200 I (Eye) Street SE, Washington, DC 20003
- RSVP Today
Closing Reception:
This reception will also celebrate the launch of the exhibition catalog and will feature musical guests Loc’d N Band and the Fearless Praise Gospel Singers
- Thursday, March 5th, 2026
- 6 PM to 8 PM
- 200 I (Eye) Street SE, Washington, DC 20003
- RSVP Today
For reasonable accommodation requests regarding access and inclusion, please contact us at [email protected], no later than 5 business days before the start of an event.