Opening reception with exhibit curator, Megan Christiansen, will be held on March 17 from 6 to 8 p.m.
Wilmington College will present a gallery exhibit titled “The Strange Fruits of Our Labor” at the Meriam R. Hare Quaker Heritage Center, March 17 through June 5. An opening reception featuring a talk by the exhibit curator, Megan Christiansen, will be held on March 17 from 6 to 8 p.m. Normal gallery hours are weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
QHC Director Tanya Maus noted the exhibit “explores collaboration, resilience and the transformative power of creative exchange that transcends incarceration.” Created in partnership between educator and artist Christiansen and incarcerated student Donna “Shababy” Brown, “The Strange Fruits of Our Labor” is inspired by Billie Holiday’s classic song, “Strange Fruit,” and its historical legacy. Through shared making, monoprints were created from organic materials found within the prison, and the students’ artistic responses added, creating a visual dialogue about memory, resistance and shared authorship. This collaboration was produced at Dayton Correctional Facility in 2025.
This exhibition also features select works from incarcerated artists at Wilmington College's three prison education program sites: Dayton Correctional Facility, Warren Correctional Institution and Lebanon Correctional Institution.
Christiansen, who was born in Auckland, New Zealand, is a visual artist and educator working in photography, experimental video, installation and performance. She utilizes this interdisciplinary practice to explore the performance of gender, race and sexuality, and how these performances are imaged.
She received her MFA in photography with a certificate in collegiate teaching at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2021 and her BFA in spatial design from the Auckland Institute of Technology in 2013. She has participated in residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, the DNA Gallery Summer residency and the Teaching Artist Project. Her works are held in the RISD Museum and private collections in the United States, Great Britain, Europe and New Zealand. She has taught at Wittenberg University, Rhode Island School of Design, and in Wilmington College’s Prison Education Program. She currently teaches at Wayne State University in Detroit.