Work by incarcerated and formerly incarcerated artists is on display at Fisk University’s John Lewis Center for Social Justice in an Oct. 22–23 exhibition organized by Forever Forward Collective. The North Nashville pop-up puts their creative work before audiences they cannot always reach in person.
Jada X, the collective’s founder, co-curated the Creative Justice Gallery with local artist Mike Mucker. The exhibition features Markus Xcells, Bobby Nash, Siddiq Broadway and Ndume Olatushani. Rahim Buford and Felicia Fregene performed at the Thursday evening opening.
For Olatushani, the showing brings work rooted in his experience of wrongful imprisonment to a historically Black university whose legacy he admires. He spent 28 years in prison, including 20 on death row, for a crime he did not commit.
His interest in making art began after another person in prison drew a portrait of him that he thought bore little resemblance to his face. Olatushani began painting himself and developed a means of expression within the confines of his cell. He described working with color as an act of resistance and creativity as a source of freedom during imprisonment.
The Fisk exhibition is part of a series that has expanded quickly since X established Forever Forward Collective earlier this year. Over five months, she has curated gallery experiences in Oakland, at Vanderbilt’s Law Center and at the Formerly Incarcerated, Convicted People and Families Movement conference held in Nashville in August.
X said visitors have responded to the humanity conveyed in the artwork and the care taken in arranging the exhibitions. Guests have purchased pieces, and some of Xcells’ paintings are now being displayed in galleries around the country.
X began working on Xcells’ case in late 2025. Facing another 60 years in prison, he pursued ways to reduce his sentence, including a clemency request filed this year. As he encountered legal obstacles, X encouraged him to share his artwork publicly. She helped arrange a May exhibition at the Benjamin Hooks Library in Memphis. The community’s response helped inspire her to create the collective.
Her organizing began with a different case: that of her son, James, who was arrested in 2018 and given $500,000 bail. Seeking help, she connected with Free Hearts, a Nashville organization supporting incarcerated people and their families. She continued advocating for others affected by the criminal justice system. James was exonerated in August 2026.
The collective also works on advocacy beyond exhibitions. X partnered with Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and Nash, an incarcerated artist who founded the prison newsletter Yardbird, to oppose the executions of Tony Carruthers and Christa Pike. Their effort collected more than 1,000 signatures from people in six prisons.
Across that organizing and the gallery series, X’s aim is to keep incarcerated people involved in conversations beyond prison walls. At Fisk, that effort takes the form of artwork that allows visitors to encounter the artists’ ideas, experiences and individual perspectives.