Events: Defy the Design

Let’s Get Free’s 8th Art Show
Mass Liberation from Mass Incarceration

This art show features over 200 pieces from 66 artists in prison, 63 poets in prison, and 36 artists in solidarity. Auction opens on September 25th and Ends on October 18th

Sibyls Shrine
937 Liberty Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Downtown Pittsburgh — next to planned parenthood
To enter: Press Buzzer 2 — labeled art gallery. Gallery on 2nd floor, you can take elevator or stairs.
Wheel Chair Accessible Space, with slight ramp rise to enter bathrooms. Bathrooms are single occupant, without accessible bars.

Calendar of Events

Click on Event Name to add to your calendar or subscribe to Let’s Get Free’s Calendar to add them all

🪩 Friday September 25, 5-9pm—Opening Party 
🦄 Saturday October 3, 2 – 6pm—Parent—time at Gallery
🪡 Sun Oct 4, 12:30 – 3:30pm—Community Quilt Circle
🫂 Thurs Oct 8, 6-8pm— Caregiving x Incarceration Community Discussion
📝 Fri Oct 16, 6-9pm – Poetry Circle
📽️ Sun Oct 18, 2-4pm – 9th & Gasoline: Visual Album & Documentary film
🧘‍♂️ Thurs Oct 22, 6-7:30pm – Yoga for All Bodies
🤟 Sat Oct 24, 2 -5pm – ASL in the Gallery
🚀 Sunday October 25, 12 – 4pm – Art Pick Up – Last day of the show. The gallery will slowly start to peal away as people arrive to pick up their winning pieces.

Parent-time at the Gallery—Saturday October 3 from 2 – 6pm

This is a time in the gallery hours to specifically support parents coming out to see the show with a playspace, adult humans to hang with kids and snacks!

Join Defy the Design: Poetry Circle on Friday, October 16th, 6-9pm a community reading meets creative workshop! 

Together, we will read select poems from Defy the Design: a poetry anthology from inside prison walls (the poetry part of Let’s Get Free’s 8th art show). Afterward, we will take time to create in response to prompts based on the art exhibit and poems.

You are welcome to bring works of your own or others that meet the theme of “Defy the Design” to share as additional inspiration!  

P.S. Refreshments provided. Physical copies of the poetry book are available for purchase at the event space from $10-$30. Defy the Design is showing from September 25-October 25. Visit creative-resistance.org for gallery hours and event details. 

Presented in collaboration by Dreams of Hope’s speaQ and Let’s Get Free.

📽️ Sun Oct 18, 2-4pm

9th & Gasoline: Visual Album & Documentary about the life of B. Alexis with special guest director BL Shirelle. The event will feature a 56 minute documentary with call-in Q & A from B. Alexis.

From inside a Southern prison, B. Alexis transforms nearly two decades of incarceration and survival into a history-making project, as her visual album journeys beyond the walls into the community and girlhood that shaped her.

9th & Gasoline is a 56-minute documentary and visual album directed by BL Shirelle, centered on the music and life of B. Alexis. The music videos offer visual context for her songs. The documentary journey goes further – into her family, her South Carolina hometown, the places that formed her, the losses she carries, and the community she remains connected to throughout nearly two decades of incarceration. The film shows an artist continuing to create and be heard under extreme circumstances, even as her access to the world is restricted and censored. Music video directors include BL Shirelle, Fury Young, and Theodore Rex King.

More info about 9th & Gasoline and Freer Records

ALL BODIES WELCOME YOGA
OCTOBER 22 • 6:15-7:30PM

Free street parking after 6pm

Bring your own mat and props. Snacks and water provided. Free parking at 6pm.
Emily Anderson (she/her) is a Pittsburgh based yoga therapist and owner of the virtual studio All Bodies Welcome Yoga. Emily specializes in working with people who have diverse mobility needs, physical disabilities, and chronic conditions. Expect a laid-back, beginner-friendly practice that includes therapeutic movement, breathwork, and other modalities rooted

ASL Afternoon in the Gallery
When: Sat., October 24, 2-5pm
Where: 937 Liberty Ave, downtown Pittsburgh press buzzer #2

We’re prioritizing ASL in the gallery on October 24! ASL users of all levels are welcome, including students! We will offer guided gallery tours with an ASL interpreter so folks can learn about the artists, on both sides of prisons’ walls, featured in the exhibit. We have plenty of seating throughout the gallery to sit and chat in ASL, read artist statements, or write to an artist.

The Defy the Design art show features over 50 artists in prison and 30 artists in solidarity with ending mass incarceration.

Coffee and light snacks provided
Tip: Garage parking is cheapest on Saturdays.