Riverside
Award-winning multimedia artist Jesse Krimes brings his inimitable Elegy Quilt series to a new mural, Riverside, located at 990 Spring Garden Street, in the heart of Philadelphia’s Spring Arts neighborhood.
Krimes’ Elegy Quilts reference memories of incarcerated people’s homes or other safe spaces, and incorporate imagery that represents the constancy of state surveillance in incarcerated people’s lives. Riverside features a quilt design derived from a series of workshops in spring 2025, held with eight participants from the Mural Arts Philadelphia Rec Crew—graduates of Mural Arts’ Restorative Justice reentry programs who do work at recreational centers around the city, revitalizing community spaces and assisting with mural installations. Each Rec Crew workshop participant produced their own collage in the style of Krimes’ work, and an element from each design is incorporated into the final quilt design.
The finished quilt, constructed from vintage fabric and clothing worn by incarcerated individuals, will be the centerpiece of a new exhibition at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, opening to the public on May 1, 2026. The exhibition will also include other quilts and selected works from Krimes’ oeuvre, and will be accompanied by public programming in summer 2026. The mural, slated for dedication in late May, will live at the top of the north tower of 990 Spring Garden and will be visible for several city blocks, overlooking the busy thoroughfare of Spring Garden Street.
Top Image: Jesse Krimes, Untitled Elegy Quilt, 2026.
About the Exhibition
Presented by the Fabric Workshop and Museum, in partnership with Mural Arts Philadelphia, this exhibition features selections from the Jesse Krimes’ Elegy Quilt series (2020 – present), a body of work that intimately renders the effects of the U.S. carceral system through images of domestic spaces.
Propelled by his own experience with incarceration, Krimes gathers clothing and textile fragments from currently and formerly incarcerated individuals and reconstitutes them into intricately patterned quilts that meditate on memory, loss, comfort, and alienation. To produce the seven quilts on view, Krimes asked his collaborators to describe a memory of home. Drawing on the art historical motif of the caged or hunted animal, he also prompted them to choose a representative animal figure. Each quilt is a tactile archive of lives impacted by the prison system, grappling with the sense of estrangement, loss, and yearning experienced during incarceration, release, and reintegration. Through this process, Krimes reframes everyday materials into narratives of dignity and connection, prompting critical reflection on the psychological and material costs of incarceration.
The exhibition debuts Riverside, a newly commissioned quilt by Krimes, informed by his work with Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Restorative Justice program, which connects with people whose lives have been impacted by incarceration. Through a series of workshops with the artist, eight participants reflected on their own experiences to create collages based on Krimes’ Elegy Quilt methodology. Focusing on three objects, such as a piece of furniture, an animal, and a personal item that symbolizes each person’s identity, each collage becomes an allegorical self-portrait. Krimes has synthesized these designs into a single artwork, translating the collage themes into a quilt that reflects the voices and visions of the participants.
Additionally, the workshops and collages have formed the basis for early studies and visual research for a forthcoming large-scale mural designed by Krimes, to be unveiled at 990 Spring Garden Street, Philadelphia in spring 2026. By presenting the Elegy Quilts alongside these developmental materials, FWM offers audiences an intimate look into Krimes’ collaborative process, underscoring the power of community as a means of resistance and healing.
More About Jesse Krimes:
Jesse Krimes is a multimedia artist whose work explores societal mechanisms of power and control with a focus on criminal and racial justice. While serving a six-year prison sentence, he produced and smuggled out numerous bodies of work, established art programs, and co-created artist collectives. He is the founder and director of the Center for Art & Advocacy, the first national organization dedicated to supporting justice-impacted creatives. Krimes also successfully led a class-action lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase for charging formerly incarcerated people predatory fees after their release from prison.
Krimes was the winner of an Emmy Award for his documentary Art and Krimes by Krimes. His work has been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA PS1, Palais de Tokyo, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, and the International Red Cross Museum. He has also received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, Rauschenberg Foundation, Creative Capitol, and Art for Justice Fund. His work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Kadist Foundation, Bunker Artspace, and the Agnes Gund Collection. He is represented by Jack Shainman Gallery in New York.
About the Mural Arts Rec Crew:
Sponsored by the City of Philadelphia’s Anti-Violence Community Expansion Grant and in partnership with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, Mural Arts’ Rec Crew is a group of Guild and Women’s Reentry Program graduates who do work at recreational centers around the city, revitalizing community spaces and assisting with mural installations.
Through mural making, carpentry, and other creative projects, program participants are guided by artists and other skilled professionals to transform their neighborhoods and themselves. Job readiness, through the development of life skills and mentorship, is an essential element of the curriculum. Participants have built personal and professional growth plans, which include communications, teamwork, critical thinking, problem-solving, digital etiquette, and essential job entry skills like résumé-building and interview preparation, to aid them in securing future employment.
Read more about the Rec Crew and other Mural Arts Restorative Justice initiatives.
