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project leader
Kevin B
location
5401 Hamilton Ave
(Cleveland Metro)
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the project

The Celly-Port is a traveling prison cell I am building inside of a trailer. Inside of the cell will be complete with statistics and information revealing the harsh realities of the prison industrial complex and stories from people who have been incarcerated and those who still are. The project aims to create changes within the justice system and prison industrial complex. This change will be created by the conversations had, by the understanding gained and by the documentation of stories and experiences of others who have been through the prison system and are now successful and those who have mad mistakes, never been through the system and are still successful. 

The project will also focus on how we can envision a new way of dealing with social issues that is not rooted in punishment and capital supremacy, but instead restorative justice, community growth, healing trauma and higher education. 

The more funding that is raised, the more exposure the instillation can have and the more change we can create quickly. 

the steps

The Big event kick off date will be held at the Ingenuity Cleveland warehouse at 5401 Hamilton Ave. Cleveland, Ohio 

Kick off event: Sunday July 24th 2:00-5:00 PM @ Ingenuity Cleveland

There will be several events, institutions and public spaces where the instillation will be on display at throughout the summer and fall. 

why we're doing it

The heart of this project is to change the stigma around the incarcerated and those that are formerly incarcerated. I spent 6 1/2 years of my life in the juvenile and adult prison system and while I was there gained an understanding of what works to help people, and what does not. What I found is that healing and education are the most essential things needed to help someone grow, and unfortunately the current state of the prison industrial complex is still stuck on the punitive paradigm which only exacerbates trauma and thus keeps the cycle of incarceration going. From my experience as a prisoner, a student, an artist and a community organizer I understand that in order to change the culture around the justice system, the person system and the "street lifestyle" we must first change "the system" itself. 

While I was in prison I was blessed to be apart of the community center that we had. The community center was a thriving microcosm inside a world of oppression where we had the opportunity to find our passions, not be continually judged by our worst action, and gain hope that we could make our personal and collective future prosperous. 

I would love to see the community center model of incarceration be adopted throughout prisons in Ohio and the United States, in hopes that we can incarcerate less and less people and eventually our whole understanding of prison as a form of social safety has changed. In order to achieve this, we must understand how we got to where we are with the Prison Industrial Complex, understand its ramifications and understand how we can create a new system. 

My hopes is this project will invoke empathy and creativity and push the community towards taking action into rethinking and creating a new system of social safety.

budget

Disbursed budget 12.23.22



TOTAL RAISED = $1,994.50
ioby Fiscal Sponsorship Fee (5%) N/A
ioby Donation Processing Fee (3%) $32.55
TOTAL TO DISBURSE= $1,961.95

Original budget:



TOTAL PROJECT FUNDING NEEDED $6,000
ioby Fiscal Sponsorship Fee (5%) N/A
ioby Donation Processing Fee (3%)
(Donation processing fee does not apply to match funding.)		 $186
TOTAL TO RAISE= $6,186

Donation processing fees apply to donations only. 100% of match funding goes to projects. Please note, fees are estimated here and final numbers may change based on the final amount raised and amount of match funding applied to this campaign.

The funding for this project will go towards four main components. 

1. Artist support for building the instillation; paint, bunk bed, toilet, and labor costs to compensate the fellow artists that will help me on this project - $2000

2. The large portion of the funding will go towards transportation and moving costs. I will be traveling with the trailer around the Cleveland area throughout the summer and fall time and will need to cover traveling and moving expenses - $2000

3. Attached to the completion of this project will be the "Confession Book" that will have some anonymous stories of people who committed crimes and was never caught for them, along with the amount of time that was never spent in prison and the estimated money saved because they never went to prison. The book will also have stories from those still incarcerated and my thoughts, experiences and findings from living through the prison system.  The estimate of printing will be $2000 for 500 copies of the book and if there is more demand than I will print more. 

4. The fourth and most appreciated cost is of course to cover my labor and help make ends meet while I spend my time & energy on this project and the book. I will be presenting the instillation for several hours throughout the day, several days a week throughout the summer and it will of course take away from regular work and income. 

I will report back with how funding was spent. Everything and anything is appreciated. 

In Peace and Power, 

Thank you. 

updates

Sorry, but this project doesn't have any updates yet.

photos

This is where photos will go once we build flickr integration

donors

  • Haja T.
  • Anonymous
  • Brenda C.
  • Lauren F.
  • Kendra H.
  • Kate
  • Serve The People Cleveland
  • Brenda C.
  • Anonymous
  • Drea R.
  • Nancy & Don
  • Anonymous
  • Leah W.
  • Catherine YSO
  • Rob Loftis
  • Steve Norris and Emily Gonzales
  • Ephraim N.
  • nate l.
  • Megan B.
  • Noelle N.
  • Anonymous
  • Debbi Templin
  • Kyle B.