The Atlantic: The breathtaking ingenuity of incarcerated artists
Spiz’s dinette, a toaster-size trailer with a propane tank no bigger than your thumb, was painstakingly crafted during Dean Gillispie’s years of incarceration at an Ohio prison.
Gillispie was freed thanks to UC's Ohio Innocence Project in December 2011 after serving 20 years in prison for rapes he did not do. Gillispie’s miniatures are part of an exhibition at MoMA PS1 through early April called “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration,” guest-curated by Nicole R. Fleetwood, a professor at Rutgers and an activist who has written a book by the same name.
The Atlantic featured Gillispie in a Feb. 7 feature article explaining that he "constructed the silver trailer by spreading cigarette-pack foil across notebook cardboard, and used pins taken from the prison sewing shop to hold the whole structure together. The window curtains, made from used tea bags, are partially closed. A tiny sign on the trailer door reads, in nearly microscopic inky script: gone fishing."
Impact Lives Here
The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.
Related Stories
Living in Cincinnati: Why the Queen City is a great place to...
Discover what makes life in Cincinnati special! From top attractions to local favorites, explore why the Queen City is a great place to live, work, and play.
OTR mural celebrates UC alumni success
April 4, 2025
The UC Alumni Association, UCAA, will mark its annual Alumni Celebration during its upcoming Alumni Week, April 7-13, with a community art project commemorating this year’s slate of alumni honorees receiving the organization’s top awards.
Study: Platform-predicted treatments improve outcomes for...
April 4, 2025
Results from a new Phase 3 trial published in the journal npj Precision Oncology found that an assay that includes an assessment of cancer stem cell sensitivity to chemotherapy can accurately decide more effective treatments and lead to increased outcomes for patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.