Prison Portrait Project by Carolyn Harper

October 2–30 • Regitz Gallery

Opening Reception: Friday, October 2, 2026 • 5–8 p.m.

Carolyn Harper’s Portrait Prison Project brings the lives and humanity of incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals into focus through hand-sewn, large-format quilts and hand-embroidered batiks. Many of the people Harper portrays are serving life-without-parole sentences in Pennsylvania, and many have spent decades behind bars.

Harper does not seek to determine the innocence or guilt of the people she portrays. Instead, her textile portraits of incarcerated people focus on their individuality, dignity, humanity, and capacity for transformation. She has intentionally avoided asking the people she knows about the crimes that led to their incarceration, allowing them to share their stories on their own terms. Through these relationships, Harper has come to focus on redemption, rehabilitation, and the ways people change over the course of their lives.

Every stitch is painstakingly sewn by hand, reflecting the minutes, days, and years that make up a life spent behind bars. The beauty and craftsmanship of the quilts and embroidered batiks create a striking tension with the difficult realities experienced by their subjects, inviting viewers to consider the humanity of people who are often overlooked or forgotten.

About the Artist

Carolyn Harper is a textile artist, educator, and advocate whose work combines portraiture, textile art, social justice, and activism. Raised in Rochester, New York, Harper moved to Philadelphia in 1989 to attend the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned an MFA studying under artists Neil Welliver and Rafael Ferrer.

Harper has worked as an arts administrator and educator and has long been involved in volunteer and advocacy work. For many years, she created panels for the AIDS NAMES Memorial Quilt Project, taught art classes in homeless shelters, and advocated for homeless and incarcerated populations. She currently teaches classes and workshops in textile art, portraiture, and social justice art. Her current artistic practice brings together art, advocacy, and activism.