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Juvenile-In-Justice is a compilation of photos that tell the stories of juveniles in the justice system and “is a collection of images, interviews, audio documents, and texts created over a dozen years, at 300 sites in 35 states, drawn from the lives of more than 1,000 kids.” The project is on display at the James R. Reynolds Gallery in Texas A&M’s Memorial Student Center.

A new exhibit, Juvenile-In-Justice, is on display at the James R. Reynolds Gallery in Texas A&M’s Memorial Student Center until Oct. 7.

Juvenile-In-Justice is a compilation of photos selected from an international activism project with the same name. The project tells the stories of juveniles in the justice system and “is a collection of images, interviews, audio documents, and texts created over a dozen years, at 300 sites in 35 states, drawn from the lives of more than 1,000 kids,” according to the project’s website.

The exhibit in the Reynolds Gallery features photos from the project with copies of handwritten notes and testimonies about the people photographed and their experiences before, during and after their incarceration as children.

“There’s a lot of different stories and a lot of different experiences expressed in this [exhibit],” said Mary Compton, MSC program coordinator. “Many of them are difficult to hear, difficult to see, but very powerful, very moving. Part of our initiative in doing this is to raise awareness and also there’s a call to action. People can get involved with the project or at the community level wherever they are.”

Richard Ross, a California-based artist, activist and photographer, created Juvenile-In-Justice. Ross said the project started after he visited the El Paso juvenile detention center looking at architecture when he saw six children sitting in separate cells. Ross said he thought the children had compelling stories, which started his nationwide project.

“Texas A&M is over 60,000 young minds that if I could make these people more real to any number of them or help give them a voice and start a discussion, I’m happy to do it,” Ross said. “I don’t have grand aspirations for changing the world, but if somebody as an artist and a photographer and a journalist can change the equation just a little bit, it means something.”

Students in the MSC Visual Arts Committee selected the project to be displayed in the Reynolds Gallery since it is a student-curated space, Compton said.

Photos of children are unidentified and some have blurred-out faces, but may list initials, location or dates, Compton said. She noted the only people identified with full names are adults. Compton noted there are stories in the gallery about people who were incarcerated as a minor and are still in prison at age 60 or children who were removed from unsafe homes and had law enforcement involvement that ended with them being arrested as young as 6 or 7 years old. Compton said there the exhibit will resonate will some visitors.

“I think there’s a lot of people who have difficult pasts or experiences in their life that are reflected in the people in the stories they see in the gallery,” Compton said. “I think that the hardest thing about this exhibit is that these are kids. Some of the stories are told from adults who had experiences as children. To see how that childhood experience with the justice system impacted them at a young age, it’s really sad.”

The Reynolds Gallery is on the second floor of the MSC and is open to the public with free admission Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. For more information, visit vac.tamu.edu. Compton said a virtual exhibit is being finished and will be available for viewing online at vac.tamu.edu when complete.

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Alex Miller is the digital content coordinator and do-it-all reporter for The Eagle. Follow him on Twitter @AlexMill20.

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Juvenile-In-Justice is a compilation of photos that tell the stories of juveniles in the justice system and “is a collection of images, interviews, audio documents, and texts created over a dozen years, at 300 sites in 35 states, drawn from the lives of more than 1,000 kids.” The project is on display at the James R. Reynolds Gallery in Texas A&M’s Memorial Student Center.

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