FREER by FREER Records

Join us for the opening of FREER by FREER Records. A multimedia art experience of the past, present and future of prison music. Though music from inside prisons has been heard by the outside world since the early days of the phonorecord and radio, never has there been a record label in the United States — the nation with the highest prison population — devoted to recording music from prison. FR started in 2013 as a one-album project called Die Jim Crow, that focused on collaborating with prison-impacted Black artists in order to tell a story around racial injustice in the era of mass incarceration. FREER’s founder, Fury Young, funded the album in-part by curating art shows like this one. This immersive multimedia experience takes the viewer on our 11-years-and-counting journey to provide a platform for prison-impacted musicians. Through a collection of photographs, rare works of art, visual paraphernalia, and musical recordings, we explore the past, present, and future of our work and its connection to the broader history of prison music. From songs of sorrow and rebellion to tools for redemption and transformation, prison music reflects the raw humanity of those confined, offering a voice to the voiceless and a rhythm to resistance. Music created behind the walls has received limited attention, but it impacts lives, shapes the cultural narrative around prison, and has even led to policy change — a legacy that FREER Records aims to build upon and carry forward. Artists displayed in this exhibition include Tameca Cole, Lee Brozgol, Mark Loughney, Fury Young, Britni West, Leon Benson, Mark Springer, Ahmad Nichols, Micheal Tenneson and many more. The show will be on view until 12/20/24 from 10A - 6P Monday through Friday.