Shared Dining installed at the York Correctional Institution
The women used materials limited to things available in prison, such as paper plates and cloth runners. Scissors and sewing needles are not allowed in prison, so the women improvised with nail clippers, unbent staples, origami and canvas crochet hooks to embellish their pieces.
The Dinner Party was an artistic response to the systemic invisibility of women in recorded history. Incarcerated women are not only left out of recorded history; they are set apart from our collective consciousness by physical removal from society. Each inmate has a number. Women in prison are identified by the acts that led them to prison. Many never shed this shadow identity.
- Joe Lea from Shared Dining: Women of York, 2015
"I listed all the women who have touched my life, inspired my life, helped to transform my life. There’s just a continuation of all the women from my Great Grandmother, to my Mother, and all my sisters, and my mentors. Sometimes I would lie awake, thinking, “Who am I forgetting?”, because there has just been such a powerful presence of women in my life." - Kelly
"I also took it internally and just started thinking about all the Mothers in time that have been shunned or did not have enough importance. That’s when I started thinking about my mother and times where I pushed her out of the spotlight of my life, and the mothers that now take care of my children. I wanted for all the mothers in my life to know that I respect and appreciate everything they do; I wanted to tie all that into the Virgin Mary and my plate." - Yajaira
"I chose to honor Ms. Phyllis Porter because of what she represents to me. To me, Ms. Porter is like my guardian angel, she saved me, and made me a better person overall. It is as my guardian angel that I see her." - Lisette
"I utilized loose letters from a scrabble game, which were ready to be discarded. I recognized how similar it was to the way society all too easily deems inmates unworthy and disposes of us. It inspired me to rescue these wooden tiles. I repurposed them and gave them a new life; in the same way art and education have given me one." - Tracie
Shared Dining integrates a largely voiceless population into a public dialogue about women, history, and incarceration. The women of York drew on their experiences and turned commonplace objects into art. By telling stories of women who inspired them, they were empowered to write their own stories, and share them in places where their voices would be heard. In turn, they learned that without sharing stories, we all risk being left out of recorded history.
- Joe Lea from Shared Dining: Women of York, 2015