Last weekend, Paddle8 kicked off an auction with in support of the California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP), along with Blum & Poe gallery in Los Angeles. The sale raises funds that will aid the organization’s goal of tackling mass incarceration.
Founded over 20 years ago by volunteers both in an outside of prisons, the CCWP was born out of fear for the alarming statistics that are true of California’s prisons and the belief that the institutional violence imposed on women needs to be combatted. Aside from fundraising for the organization, the social justice group hopes that including art in the cause will help invoke a movement that will serve as a means of repairing the injustice that is too often found in the system.
“Prisons only worsen the social problems we pretend they will fix. We need to transform how we deal with poverty, trauma and violence. But in the meantime, we want to help people survive,” said Colby Lenz, a statewide organizer for CCWP.
Featuring donated works by over 40 artists like Kiki Smith, Michael Williams, Torey Thornton, and Carroll Dunham, the sale for CCWP will continue exclusively on Paddle8 through August 29.