Eastern State Penitentiary’s installation shows ripple effect of crime

The Eastern State Penitentiary is not only a site for tours (and haunted activations come the fall), but since 1995, the historic site has commissioned more than 100 site-specific artist installations on its grounds. And the latest pop-up to add to their list recently opened at the venue last weekend. 

As a release states, projects are selected through an annual application process, which seeks memorable, thought-provoking additions to the historic site’s public programming, combined with “true excellence in artistic practice.” Installations are ultimately chosen by how they can draw a line from incarceration to today’s world, all while showcasing the complicated history of the space.

The ESP is now housing work from mixed-media artist E.D. Taylor. This site-specific installation features a series of dioramas and artifacts to showcase the artist’s reflection on a childhood visit with her Uncle Andy that took place following his confinement to California’s Atascadero State Hospital as a “Mentally Disordered Sex Offender.” 

Titled Visiting Uncle Andy at Atascadero State Hospital (a maximum-security forensic facility), 1981, or simply Visiting Uncle Andy, the new exhibit opened at the Eastern State Penitentiary on May 5, and will remain on display until the end of this year. 

The official description puts it best on what to expect: On June 20, 1980, Andy, a seventh-grade teacher, was involuntarily committed to Atascadero State Hospital, an all-male psychiatric institution in California. He served seven years there for sexually assaulting at least two pre-pubescent boys who attended the K-12 school where he worked. The artist and her family visited Andy at Atascadero first in 1981 and again in 1983. Andy’s name has been changed to protect the identities of all parties involved.

What E.D. Taylor showcases through her work are her memories (along with her families) peppered in with facts obtained from court documents regarding the case. To view this installation, visitors will go into a cell block and look through three peepholes to see dioramas depicting the artist’s memories of trips to Atascadero State Hospital to visit her uncle during his incarceration there.

“This installation is about where my uncle’s life intersects with mine. It’s about how events reverberate through time,” says E.D. Taylor in a statement. “It’s also about the tension between what we remember and what really happened. It’s about the way crime impacts victims, perpetrators, and family members. And, finally, it’s about forgiveness.”

In the exhibit, there will also be two display cases on both sides of the cell that hold various artifacts relating to Uncle Andy’s life, arrest, and conviction. Items include yearbook photos, redacted court records, and Taylor’s musings about her uncle’s ultimate downfall. 

“We are honored that E.D. considered Eastern State Penitentiary a fitting backdrop for such a deeply personal, but also universally thought-provoking installation,” says Sean Kelley, Eastern State Penitentiary’s senior vice president, in a statement. 

Kelley continued: “At Eastern State, we invite all our visitors to consider the ways their lives intersect with the criminal justice system. This story presents another avenue to consider the ripple effects of crime. We look forward to the difficult but important conversations this piece will encourage here at Eastern State.”

Visiting Uncle Andy can be viewed (and is included with admission) during the ESP’s daytime tours, as well as the Night Tours: Summer Twilight, and will remain on view through the end of 2023. 

Another experience currently open at the Penitentiary includes The Voices of Eastern State Audio Tour, the organization’s signature program. The audio tour, which is narrated by actor Steve Buscemi features the voices of former prisoners and correctional staff, and it guides visitors through the penitentiary complex, including popular points of interest such as Al Capone’s cell, death row, and the award-winning exhibit: Prisons Today: Questions in the Age of Mass Incarceration. The guide-led Hands-On History tours, and history exhibits, are also included with admission.

Tickets are available online or at the door, subject to availability. To learn more information about the Eastern State Penitentiary (2027 Fairmount Ave.), visit easternstate.org