Presented in partnership with Mural Arts Philadelphia, this exhibition features selections from Jesse Krimes’s Elegy Quilt series (2020–present), a body of work that renders the personal effects of the U.S. carceral system through portraits of domestic spaces. Drawing on his own experience with incarceration, Krimes gathers donated clothing and textile fragments from currently and formerly incarcerated individuals and reconstitutes them into intricately patterned quilts that meditate on memory, loss, alienation, and comfort. Continuing in the spirit of American quilting traditions, the works situate these narratives within broader histories of communal making and resilience.
This exhibition debuts Riverside, a newly commissioned quilt informed by Krimes’s work with Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Restorative Justice program, which supports people whose lives have been impacted by incarceration. Through a series of workshops with the artist, eight young adults reflected on their own experiences to create a series of collages. Focusing on three elements—a piece of furniture, an animal, and a personal object symbolizing identity—each collage becomes an allegorical self-portrait that shifts from remembrance toward imagining future selves. Krimes has synthesized these designs into a single quilt that amplifies the voices and visions of Restorative Justice program participants.
The workshops and collages also serve as studies for a forthcoming large-scale mural by Krimes to be unveiled at 990 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia, in spring 2026. By presenting the Elegy Quilts alongside these developmental materials, the exhibition offers an intimate look into Krimes’s collaborative process and underscores the transformative power of community as a source of resistance, care, and collective possibility.
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