Reclaiming Our Roots: Cultural Reflections by Incarcerated Artists
Artists Lawrence "L" Jenkins and Bonifacio "Paul" Reynolds
Date & Time
July 30 – August 5, 2026
10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
This event is in the past.
Tickets
Included with museum admission;
FREE for Burke members
Not a member? Join today.
The Burke Museum is partnering with Solidarity Art Collective to host a month-long pop-up exhibit July 30 – August 27, 2026, featuring artwork by incarcerated artists Billy Gumabon, Jacquavious, Lawrence Jenkins, Songkoun Sao, Siaosi Scanlan, Mikailah Sweetgrass-Turner, Bonifacio Reynolds, and Edmund Washington.
July 30 – August 5, artwork by Lawrence Jenkins and Bonifacio Reynolds will be on display in the Artist Studio, accompanied by audio interviews with each artist, and a corresponding item from the museum’s Heritage: Arts & Cultures collections, which served as inspiration for the artists to create pieces paying homage to their roots.
About the Artists
Lawrence "L" Jenkins (he/him)
Lawrence "L" Jenkins is cofounder and co-director of Solidarity Art Collective. L is a self-taught, mixed-media visual artist as well as a teaching artist. L specializes in portraiture and is leaning into etching and abstract realism with acrylic and oil paints…
Creativity, to me, is a freedom practice. It’s a reminder that I'm not limited to the prison(s) around me. Creativity, for me, is a reconnecting and reclaiming process. A reassurance that no matter how far away from "home" I am. I'm still deeply connected to my Roots and ALL that gives me Sustenance, Light, Energy, Balance.. Making life and its struggles I find myself in, survivable. Creativity also reassures me that I have power to transform and transcend. No matter the subject, the canvas, the material nor the situations or circumstances. Creativity doesn't know the difference.
Being able to share this with others is the greatest gift…
Bonifacio "Paul" Reynolds (he/him)
My name is Bonifacio, but most people know me by "B" or my middle name Paul, I was born and raised in Tacoma, WA. My mother introduced me to drawing when I was a child, I picked it back up when I came to prison. Upon arriving to Stafford Creek I met some of the art community, I started off with black and white portraits then I was introduced to a variety of mediums, they taught me several techniques and art became one of my escapes.
I love art, I want people to be captivated by my pieces the same way I get captivated by others art. Most importantly, I wish to support my wife and daughter with the art I love creating, maybe one day also teach my daughter how to draw/paint.
About the Exhibit
Reclaiming Our Roots: Cultural Reflections by Incarcerated Artists highlights the importance and beauty of connecting with one’s culture while incarcerated. Several of the featured artists are members and leaders of cultural awareness groups designed to educate BIPOC prisoners about their cultural identities and promote personal growth and community building. In recent years, policy changes within the Washington State Department of Corrections have severely limited free cultural expression by disallowing peer-led programming and censoring cultural groups’ curricula, events, and activities.
Having cultural spaces inside where prisoners can find belonging and collective community is a vital lifeline. It keeps them rooted in their identity instead of the labels placed on them by the system and forges invaluable connections with communities outside prison. Cultural art and expression are inextricably linked with cultural education and empowerment that transcends the confines of prison politics. Therefore, the practice of culture — for prisoners — is resistance just as much as it is restoration and liberation.
Each of the participating artists identified regions and cultures from their ancestry, and staff at the Burke Museum helped them choose a corresponding item from the museum’s Heritage: Arts & Cultures collections. The selected items served as inspiration for the artists to create pieces paying homage to their roots. The featured artworks were inspired by items from Ivory Coast, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Samoa, Mexico, Philippines, and Cambodia, as well as the Echota Cherokee and Blackfeet Nation tribes. Some artists have selected culturally significant creations from past Solidarity Art Collective shows to display alongside their specially curated pieces.
The exhibit will feature recorded commentary from artists about partnering with the Burke Museum and how the experience impacted their connection to the past. These artists have deep love for their history, their culture, and their people as a whole. There is no greater opportunity for them to express this than the one the Burke Museum has extended through this collaboration. This process of connecting with previously unknown parts of their history has already breathed new life into the movement for cultural preservation behind bars.
