Special Exhibits
"Is It Safe? Essays and Photographs of Students in the San Quentin College Program"
Is it Safe? Essays and Photographs of Students in the San Quentin College Program, will be on view June 2, 2008-October 22, 2008, at Alcatraz Island. The exhibition features photographs by Heather Rowley and autobiographical essays by students in the only on-site, degree-granting college program in California’s entire prison system.
The student essays explore a wide range of topics, including parenting from prison, practicing non-violence, and becoming a first-generation college graduate. The exhibition premiered at the San Francisco Public Library in November 2007 (under the title Who We Are). The current exhibition at Alcatraz Island has been funded by grants from the Sunshine Lady Foundation, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, and the Rosenbaum Foundation.
The Prison University Project is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide high-quality higher education to people incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison; to generate public support for prison education and recovery programs; and to increase public awareness about criminal justice issues nationwide.
For more information about “Is It Safe” and The Prison University Project visit www.prisonuniversityproject.org
"Alcatraz: Stories From the Rock"
Alcatraz: Stories From the Rock takes viewers on a journey through the Island’s many chapters: its early role as a military fortress, the famous federal penitentiary years, the Indian occupation that altered the course of history, and finally the popular National Park and wildlife refuge it is today.
Alcatraz stands as a powerful symbol of protection and change. The film explores Alcatraz as it began, as it evolved, and as it stands today and allows viewers to discover the many layers that make it an incredible time capsule of history and human drama.
Other Exhibits
Video Exhibit: “We Hold the Rock”
The occupation of Alcatraz Island from 1969 to 1971 by “Indians of All Tribes” changed the course of U.S. and American Indian history, and brought world-wide attention to the plight of American Indians. The award winning video/exhibit, “WE HOLD THE ROCK,” produced by the National Park Service and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, is shown continually in the China Alley exhibit behind the main theater area near the dock.
Display: “Alcatraz and the American Prison Experience”
"Alcatraz and the American Prison Experience," a major interpretive exhibit, explains the place of Alcatraz in the evolution of prisons in America from Colonial days to the present. Produced in partnership with the federal Bureau of Prisons, the exhibit also looks at family life on Alcatraz and trends in American penology. The exhibit is housed in two historic fortress storerooms in the China Alley display area near the dock.
